Take Two
by JaninaM8
Summary: Robb and Sansa had been lovers when they were young. Knowing they could never actually make it work considering they are brother and sister, Robb moves away to start a new life. He gets married, Sansa gets engaged, and then Catelyn has a heart attack and Robb decides to come back home. Old feelings begin to resurface. Contains incest.
1. Chapter 1

**Winterfell, Massachusetts**

Sansa Stark sat at her kitchen table looking up curtains to order for a client when she heard her fiance, Willas Tyrell, calling for her. She sighed, annoyed at being bothered, and got up. She made her way down the hall of the home they shared (he'd moved in with her; it was her house), and found him trying to mount the shelves he'd built onto the walls of their shared study.

"Little help?" he asked. "Just need you to hold the other end up."

Sansa nodded, trying to shake off her annoyance, and held up the shelf while Willas hammered the other end into the wall. She really should not be so annoyed; she had asked him to make these for her and he had after all.

"You okay?" he asked her.

She sighed. "I am. Just Senorita Cranky Pants today."

"Well, you've been under a lot of stress lately. Your Mom just had a heart attack and a couple stents put in. Being the only Stark around to take care of her, it's a lot to deal with."

Sansa felt tears prick her eyes at just the thought of it. She'd lost her Dad a few years ago, she could not lose her mother too. There was no rhyme or reason to it, either. Her mother had always seemed as healthy as a horse. But, nothing in life was guaranteed and it made no sense to her how a woman that ate everything organic and exercised consistently could have a heart attack while someone else that ate McDonald's every day and smoked did not. Such was the mystery of life.

It had fallen to her to help her Mother out since none of her siblings lived in the same place anymore. Her younger sister Arya was currently in Montana shacking up with some guy named Gendry. And her younger brother Bran was in Seattle with her other younger brother Rickon. Rickon was attending school there. Robb _had_ been in Minnesota with his wife.

Except that soon her older brother Robb and his wife would be moving to Winterfell.

This, for Sansa, was another stress.

"But she's okay now," Willas continued. "And we'll make sure she stays that way. Plus, now your brother is moving back home..."

Sansa cleared her throat. "Yeah."

"When is he due to arrive?"

"Tomorrow," Sansa said and moved out of the way so Willas could nail her side to the wall.

"That's a good thing, right?" he asked.

"Yep."

Willas glanced at her before nailing the shelf in on her side. "I really need you to take the excitement down a notch."

Sansa sighed. "I just have a lot on my mind."

Willas stepped back and nodded to the now hung shelf. "What do you think?"

Sansa looked at it without really seeing it, her mind on Robb returning to Winterfell with his wife. "It looks great."

Willas nudged her with his elbow. "So, tell me again – you and Robb had some kind of falling out before he moved away?"

"No, we just lost touch with each other when he moved away," Sansa replied. "So I suppose seeing him again will be like seeing a stranger." Robb had been gone from home for six years, though she had seen him briefly three years prior. But since that had been when their father had passed away and all of them had been in some kind of daze, she wasn't sure that counted.

Even if they had fucked the night before he left to return home.

However, in the time Robb had been away he'd had gotten married, and she'd started a career and was now engaged. Their lives were different now. Just as they'd planned.

"So I'm going to go get some fabric I need for the house I'm decorating this week," she said, breaking herself out of her thoughts.

"I'll have dinner ready."

Sansa now felt even worse for focusing on Robb returning to Winterfell instead of on her soon-to-be husband. She wound her arms around Willas, noting how safe he made her feel. He was a good man, so kind and sweet. He worked hard (he was a contractor), and he was so handsome (short dark hair and beautiful brown eyes).

She needed to focus on that, and the fact that her brother was married to a wonderful woman, instead of on the past. It wouldn't do any of them any good to think about that.

xxxxxxxx

Robb stared at the boxes that covered the first floor of the condo he and his wife Talisa were moving into. God, he hated moving. There was nothing fun about it. The only bonus was this was his hometown and so he knew his way around. It wasn't like when he moved to Minnesota and had no flipping clue where he was going.

"Honey, where do you want the bed?" Talisa called out from the second floor where their bedroom was.

"In the bedroom?" he called back.

"Robb, can you come up here, please, and stop fooling around?" He rolled his eyes at her inability to take a joke, but they were both tired. Moving was never an easy thing.

Robb made his way to the second floor. Their bedroom was at the end of the hallway. It took up a rather large portion of the second floor actually. Talisa had the headboard leaning against the wall to the right next to a window. "Here?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, over there," he said and pointed to the furthest wall in between the two windows.

She smiled. "Thank you."

He saluted her and started to head out of the room.

"Hey, are you forgetting something?" Talisa called after him.

Robb turned around and went over to her and kissed her. She smiled at him and he smiled back, though distractedly.

He headed back downstairs and pulled out his phone from the pocket of his jeans. He sent Sansa a quick text to let her know he and Talisa had arrived a day early. He put his phone down on one of the boxes and tried not to focus on it. He had unpacking to do so it wasn't a big deal if she sent him a text back right away or at all. He and Talisa weren't due until tomorrow, so she might not know exactly what to do with information. She might not even have her phone on, or near her. He really didn't know her texting habits; it wasn't as if they made a habit of texting each other. The most he'd heard from Sansa is when their mother had been in the hospital after her heart attack. They'd actually spoken on the phone then. Nothing personal, just about their mother, but still.

Robb picked up his phone again, muttering to himself. "I don't even think to text my mother to tell her we're here before I text Sansa?"

Just as he was about to dial his mother, a text from Sansa came through. He would be lying if he 3didn't say his heart started to race a little.

Sansa: _Oh. Did you let Mom know?_

Robb: _I was just about to._

Sansa: _Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow as planned then?_

Robb: _Yes. For dinner at Mom's right?_

Sansa: _Yep. See you then._

Robb: _Yep._

Robb stared at his phone, at their conversation. It wouldn't do any good to think about a time when there wasn't a giant gulf between them. Would there ever be a time when they could interact normally without so many walls? They parted ways because it was the right thing to do; because they had to. It wasn't because they hated each other. On the contrary.

Very much on the contrary.

However, now, you wouldn't know it. They talked to each other as if they couldn't wait for the conversation to end – hell, they talked to each other as though they had never even wanted the conversation to start at all.

Once upon a time Sansa had been the one he'd told everything to. The one that had known him better than anyone. She had been his best friend.

Now…now he felt like he didn't know her at all. How much had she changed in the past six years? How different was her life? He knew she was engaged now. His mother had told him. He remembered getting blind stinking drunk when she'd told him about Willas. The same kind of drunk he'd gotten the night before he'd proposed to Talisa when he knew that in doing so it was well and truly the end for him and Sansa.

Now he would get to meet the boy. Size him up. Do the big brother thing and decide if Willas was good enough for his sister.

Robb already knew the answer to that.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

 _The day had come. The day Robb left home._

 _Left Sansa._

 _She stood in his doorway now as he placed the last bit of his life in Winterfell in a box. He wanted to look at her, but it hurt to look at her. He loved her so goddamned much he could barely think straight some days._

 _And this? This was torture._

 _But, they both knew that this was hopeless. They were related and there was no way for them to be together, not in the way they wanted._

 _"_ _I got you something," she said._

 _Finally, he rested his eyes on her. She looked ready to cry. He felt ready to cry._

 _She handed over a picture frame. Inside were an amalgam of pictures of the family – Robb with Arya, with Bran, Rickon, their parents…with Sansa. He focused in on the picture of them. Their arms were around each other as the hammed it up for the camera. Robb had his tongue out, Sansa was cross-eyed. Both wore shorts and t-shirts. This was during one of their family vacations. This one had been in Hawaii when he'd been eighteen and Sansa had been fifteen. At that point they'd already started exploring their feelings for one another and Robb remembered the stolen moments they'd had on the trip, finding times to kiss and just be together._

 _Any picture of them would have been rife with memories, but he figured she'd chosen this one for the irreverence of it. To make it sting less._

 _He was afraid to speak. If he did, he was going to break down. He stared at the picture while tears blurred his eyes._

 _Sansa kissed his cheek. "I love you. Good luck." Her voice cracked and he knew she was losing it. She was gone before he could grab her and give her one last kiss._


	2. Chapter 2

"What are you bringing again?"

Sansa shut her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "I'm bringing a salad. You're getting the fish."

"I hate fish," Catelyn groused.

"You like it with vinegar."

Catelyn sighed and Sansa could practically see the pinched expression on her face through the phone. "Mom, you just had a heart attack—"

"Four months ago."

"Still. You remember what the doctor said about making life changes."

Catelyn sighed again.

"Mom, please. I'm trying here."

"I know you are, sweetie. I'm sorry. I just really miss having hamburgers and French fries."

"You can still have a hamburger and French fries. Just not every day. Once a week – no, every two weeks."

"Yes, dear."

Sansa laughed. "I'll bring some vegetables to roast on the grill, too. Okay?"

"Sounds good, honey. Robb is planning on getting here for five. When are you coming?"

"I'll come for five, too."

"Did he tell you he arrived yesterday? Did you see him?"

"He did tell me, but no, I didn't see him. I had stuff to do for work."

"Of course you did. Well, you'll see him tonight. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Mom."

Sansa disconnected the call and went back to making her salad for tonight. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. Three hours. It didn't feel like enough time to prepare herself for seeing Robb and Talisa…and this would be the first time meeting Talisa.

 _Sansa stood outside on the deck of her apartment and shivered. There was a chill in the air, but it wasn't that that had caused her to shiver. It was knowing that any second now Robb was going to pick up the phone. They didn't do this anymore: talk. They'd agreed it would be easier without contact. It hadn't been, Sansa could vouch for that._

 _"_ _Hey, Sansa," Robb said by way of answering his phone._

 _Without the customary 'hello?' plus hearing his voice again after so long, Sansa was momentarily thrown._

 _"_ _Sansa?" he prompted._

 _"_ _Hey – um, hi."_

 _"_ _Hi."_

 _"_ _So, I got your invitation to the wedding in the mail and I am RSVPing," she said._

 _"_ _Oh, um, yeah – you know you could have mailed it—"_

 _"_ _I'm not coming."_

 _Silence fell. Sansa felt drops of rain on her head. She looked up and one got her right between the eyes._

 _"_ _You're not coming to my wedding?" Robb asked softly, his voice low._

 _"_ _No. I'm sorry. I'm happy you're happy but I can't do it."_

 _"_ _I understand," he said and he sounded sad._

 _Sansa welled up in tears and she wanted to ask him if he actually did understand. He was the one getting married. He was the one that had found someone so quickly after moving away. The corpse of their relationship had barely been cold and he'd already started dating. Meanwhile, she felt as though she still wasn't over it. It wasn't fair._

 _"_ _Congratulations," she forced herself to say. "And good luck." She had to end this before she started to cry on the phone to him. "Bye, Robb."_

 _Then she broke down and it started to pour._

"Honey, I'm home!"

Sansa snapped out of her memory and looked over at Willas who had just come through their front door carrying bags of groceries. Another wonderful thing about Willas. He went grocery shopping when she asked him to.

"Please tell me you understood what I meant when I put 'roasting vegetables' on the list," she said with a wince.

"Yeah, I think I managed to figure it out."

"I'm sorry. I just talked to my mother and she's already giving me a hard time about having fish."

"I got another bottle of vinegar just in case."

Sansa beamed at him. "You're awesome."

He grinned. "I know. And after I put the groceries away and you finish that salad, I think you should let me show you just how awesome I am."

Sansa laughed and then winked at him. "I think that could be arranged." Sex with her fiancé before seeing her brother again? That just might help take some of the edge off.

xxxxxxxx

"Robb, call your sister. She was supposed to be here a half an hour ago," Catelyn told her son. "I'm hungry. Even if it is fish we're having."

Robb nodded and headed out of his mother's house. He had just pulled out his phone to call Sansa, when a blue Prius came down the driveway. This had to be Sansa. He pocketed his phone and forced himself to stand there and not run back inside to hide. He had to face her at some point. They were in the same town now after all.

It was the fiancé that got out of the car first. He was a handsome fellow and had a smile at the ready. He waved to Robb and Robb waved back. And then the passenger side door opened and Robb thought he might forget how to breathe.

Sans stepped out wearing a white sundress with flowers on it. She had sunglasses on and her hair was long and sleek and fell to the middle of her back. She waved at him and didn't even look long enough to see if he waved back (he did) before she was opening the back door and bending to grab something.

Robb felt his feet carry him forward though he very much did not want to. "Can I help?" he managed to say as he came up behind Sansa.

Willas was on the other side and the two were talking between the seats. Sansa straightened and looked over at him. God, she was beautiful. His heart felt as though someone had reached in and pinched it.

"Oh, hey, I'm just grabbing the salad. Willas has the pan with the vegetables." She bent down and grabbed something and then handed it to him. It was a bottle of vinegar. "Can you carry that in?"

Robb nodded dumbly. Should he wait for them or just go in?

He headed back; he needed to collect himself a bit.

Goddammit she was beautiful. When he'd left she'd been twenty-one. Now she was twenty-seven and still looked twenty-one. Well, sort of. She looked more…mature. She had a career now, a fiancé, and a house. It made sense that those things would mature her.

He felt shaky, almost like his blood sugar was dropping.

When he got in the house he placed the bottle of vinegar on the kitchen table. His mother and Talisa, who were sitting at the table, looked up at him.

"Did she say why she's late?" Catelyn asked.

"I didn't ask," Robb said.

Catelyn smirked. "I bet they were having sex."

"Mother!" Robb exclaimed, horrified.

Catelyn shrugged. "It's what engaged couples do." She smiled mischievously. "And married ones. Especially married ones who want to give me grandbabies."

Robb looked away and Talisa emitted a nervous laugh. Sex? He and Talisa hadn't had sex in months.

Sansa came bustling inside cradling a big bowl that had tin foil on top. She put the bowl down on the counter and then opened the door for Willas. Once Willas was inside, Sansa took off her sunglasses and placed them on the counter as she smiled at them all. "We're here!" She laughed, and to Robb it sounded like she was a bit nervous. She glanced at him and then focused on Talisa. "And you're here." She stepped closer to Talisa, who stood up from her seat, and the two shook hands. "Hi, I'm Sansa, Robb's sister," Sansa said. "I think we talked on the phone once, right?"

Robb watched the exchange, trying to be detached from it, trying not to stare at Sansa. She introduced Talisa to Willas and then she focused on him, though didn't look at him directly. She introduced Willas and Robb to one another and then kissed their mother on her head and turned on the stove.

She was like a whirlwind.

"Aren't you going to hug your brother?" Catelyn asked her.

Sansa peeled back the foil that covered the pan Willas had carried in and waved a hand. "I'm not a hugger."

Since when? Robb wanted to ask.

"Yes, you are," Catelyn said. "Give your brother a hug."

Sansa sighed and looked at Robb. She smiled, a fake one in Robb's opinion, and came over to him. "Hi," she said.

"Hi," he said and forced himself to smile as well so he supposed he couldn't really fault her for that. He wrapped his arms around her and ignored the jolt of awareness that rushed through him.

She smelled good. And she fit against him just as she used to.

 _Robb pulled Sansa in his arms and she molded herself against him. He felt like they were puzzle pieces that had just clicked together when they embraced like this. He nuzzled the side of her face and murmured, "I love you."_

 _She lifted her head to kiss him and said, "I love you, too."_

Robb released her quickly. Sansa didn't even bat an eyelash. She simply went back to preparing the food.

On a scale of one to ten of the most awkward moments ever, this was easily a twenty.


	3. Chapter 3

"Robb tells me you're a decorator," Talisa said over dinner.

Sansa nodded and finished chewing a piece of roasted summer squash before answering, "I am."

"Is there a family discount?" Talisa asked with a little laugh. "I'd love for you to take a look at our place."

"It's not like our place really lacks decoration," Robb said. "It lacks being unpacked."

"Ah, moving. Not fun," Willas interjected.

Robb just glanced at him and didn't comment.

"Still, it might be fun to have your sister take a look after we are unpacked and give us some pointers," Talisa said.

Sansa wondered how much more she could fit in her mouth so she wouldn't have to answer. The last thing she wanted to do was see the home Robb shared with his wife. It was hard enough to sit here and pretend that she wasn't uncomfortable, and that she hadn't noticed how fucking hot was, how he'd grown into such a handsome man. A sister wasn't supposed to notice those things.

"If Sansa wants to I suppose," Robb muttered.

"Well, that's what I'm saying," Talisa said, and there was more than a little irritation in her voice. "I'm not saying she _has_ to."

Robb's jaw clenched and he sipped his beer.

Sansa glanced at their mother, wondering if she'd noticed the tension between Robb and Talisa. Catelyn frowned slightly and focused her attention on her plate.

"So, Robb, Sansa tells me you're a law professor," Willas said.

Robb nodded. "I am."

"Is it like on TV?" Willas asked with a smile. "Do you put the fear of God in your students? Make them piddle on the rug?"

"Not exactly, but I do make them work hard."

"Don't let him fool you. He'd a taskmaster," Talisa said. "I've sat in on a couple of his classes and he made _me_ nearly piddle on the rug and I was just observing."

"He gets that side from his father," Catelyn chimed in.

Silence fell over the table. Thinking of her father always made Sansa sad. He had been taken much too soon from them, and Catelyn had never quite recovered from it. One minute he was there, the next minute he'd been diagnosed with liver cancer and was gone.

She remembered Robb flying out for the wake and the funeral. All of them had been in a daze. She _did_ remember them fucking the night of the funeral in her bedroom. It had been sweaty and awkward and rushed because they'd been trying to be quiet. Her orgasm had been less that satisfactory. He'd been gone the next morning, and it was almost as though he hadn't been there at all.

She remembered wondering if fucking your sister counted as cheating on your wife.

Sansa looked over at her mother. "How's the fish, Mom?"

"I'm pretending it's a steak," Catelyn replied.

"And how is that working out for ya?" Robb asked.

She smiled. "Just fine."

"Maybe I'll take you for a steak later this week," Robb told her.

"Absolutely not," Sansa said.

Robb looked down the table at her. "Sansa, it won't hurt her to have a steak once in a while."

"She had steak last week and I told her she could have it every two weeks."

"Every two weeks? I'm sorry, but are you her keeper?"

She glared at him. "No, but considering I was the one that was around when she had the heart attack and I was the one that actually talked to the doctors, I figure I know what's going on better than you do."

"Robb, Sansa, that's enough," Catelyn scolded them gently. "I'm fine with the fish, Robb. I'm just teasing your sister."

Robb nodded and stabbed a carrot with his fork.

Silence fell again.

"So, Robb, do you follow any sports?" Willas asked.

Sansa wanted to tell him to just not bother.

"So, Sansa, I was wondering if perhaps you and I could have lunch sometime?" Talisa asked her.

Shit. She hadn't really planned on this part. The part where Robb's wife wanted to bond with her. She'd kind of planned on her and Robb not having much communication outside of their family home, and that included not having to socialize with each other's significant others. She hadn't really envisioned her, Robb, Talisa, and Willas going to brunch on Sundays together and then going antiquing. That rather sounded like the ninth ring of hell to her.

"Uh, yeah, let me just check my schedule and see when I'm free," Sansa said with a smile.

"When do you start work, Robb?" Catelyn asked.

"Next week," he replied. "I'm going tomorrow to sign some papers and get situated."

"So, have you and Willas set a date yet?" Talisa asked Sansa.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sansa could see Robb stiffen. He then pushed his chair back , grabbed his plate, and sauntered off to the kitchen.

"No, we haven't," Willas answered.

What he didn't add was how Sansa kept putting off the discussion, claiming she wanted a long engagement and time to save some money. Willas went along with it because he was Willas and the most easy-going person on the planet, but she knew that even he had his limits. She had a feeling he was reaching it, too.

"Well, if you need any help I'd be happy to do that for you," Talisa said.

Sansa smiled again, a fake one, and waited until Robb returned before she excused herself and brought her plate to the kitchen.

Soon, the kitchen was full of people again as the cleaned up from dinner and Robb made coffee. Talisa told them all that when they were ready she'd made a fruit salad for dessert.

The kitchen felt too small with Robb in it. It felt as though he had taken it over with his presence and his body. Sansa didn't know what to say to him and it seemed he didn't know what to say to her either. They never really seemed to talk to each other, but rather around each other. It was odd.

Finally, sometime after dessert, Talisa and Robb left and Sansa said a half-hearted good-bye that she was sure got lost in her mother and Willas's goodbyes. Then, Willas excused himself to check the score of the football game and left Catelyn and Sansa alone together.

Sansa cleaned up while her mother sipped her coffee.

"She had an affair on him, you know."

Sansa nearly dropped the plate in her hand in the sink. She put it in the dishwasher carefully and said, "What?"

"Talisa had an affair on your brother. Someone she worked with. It's part of the reason they decided to move out here. A fresh start, he said."

Sansa just gaped at her mother. " _She_ cheated on _him_?"

"They've been in therapy. Did you notice that almost every time Robb left the room he gave her a kiss?"

Sansa hadn't. She'd been too busy trying not to notice anything about him. She shook her head.

"It was some stupid thing their therapist wanted them to try. I've no idea why."

Sansa made like a guppy before actual words came forth. "I'm…I just…wow."

"She said he wasn't giving her any affection. That he seemed disinterested in her."

Sansa blinked.

"I like her but I think she might be a bit too needy for your brother."

Sansa wasn't buying the "I like her" bit for one second. It was right there in the tone of her voice what Catelyn thought of Talisa. She wasn't impressed. Sansa had to admit that at the moment she wasn't either.

Not enough affection? What did that even mean?

 _Perhaps because of you_ , the little voice in her head suggested.

 _Fuck off_ , she thought.

So, I want you to be nice to your brother, okay? He's not as happy as he could be right now."

"Maybe moving away wasn't the answer to their problems," Sansa said.

"Well, we'll see. I think your brother just wanted to get her away from the other guy. I can't blame him."

"They haven't even been married all that long to have problems already," Sansa said. "Though it did seem like he rushed into it."

"Oh, he did. I know it. He knows it. But you know how your brother is. You can't tell him anything once he's got his mind made up." Catelyn smirked. "Reminds me of someone else I know."

Sansa's mouth quirked up into a lopsided grin. "Yeah. You?"

Her mother laughed and the mood was lightened somewhat though Sansa was still reeling from the news. Talisa had cheated on Robb. They were in therapy.

Now she just honestly felt bad for him while at the same time wondering if she had anything to do with it.

 _Well, that's quite narcissistic of you isn't it_? she thought.

Her mind went back to that long ago phone call from Robb the night before his wedding. She didn't even know why she'd answered the phone considering she knew exactly what the next day was. But she had. He'd been drunk and a bit emotional.

 _"_ _I just want you to know that I will always love you, Sansa," he told her. "I never stopped, and I never will stop. I know I'm getting married tomorrow…but I still love you."_

 _"_ _Don't say that," she begged him. "You are starting a new life with her. Focus on that."_

 _He'd broken down then, ugly sobs that drowned out her own. "I miss you so damn much, San…"_

"It'd be nice if you and your brother could spend some time together," Catelyn said. "Don't tell the others, but you were always his favorite."

Sansa laughed, a laugh somewhere between nervousness and lunacy. "Well, anyway, Willas and I better get home."

As she headed to the living room to get her fiancé she thought that there was no way in hell she was going to spend any time with her brother. Their arrangement long ago had been to keep their distance from each other, and she meant to keep to that.


	4. Chapter 4

"Sansa!"

Sansa kept walking, despite the fact that she did hear Robb calling after her as she hurriedly walked to her car from Whole Foods with a bag of groceries in each hand. _Of all the dumb luck_ , she thought.

It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to Robb. It was that she…okay, yes, she didn't want to talk to Robb. After an awkward dinner at their mother's the night before she kind of figured that was enough to last them for a while. Or at least until Sunday when they all got together again for "family dinner". Catelyn had sent out the email to them both that morning about how she wanted to reinstate family dinners.

It wasn't as though Sansa could tell her mother that wouldn't work for her since it was weird being around the brother she used to fuck on a regular basis. _Oh, and hey, did I mention that the dinner table we ate on is the very one Robb and I fornicated all over one night while you guys were out to a movie?_ Somehow she didn't think that would go over well.

"Sansa, Jesus, did you hear me?" Robb asked when he unfortunately caught up with her.

"Where did you even come from?" she asked.

He pointed over his shoulder as he bent over, panting. "Home Depot."

She arched a brow. "Little out of shape, Robb?"

He shot her a glare and straightened. "That was mean."

She shrugged and clicked the button on her keychain to open the doors of her car.

"I haven't been running in a while." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jeans pocket and held them up. "And I'm sure these don't help."

Sansa's eyes went wide as she opened the back door, placed her grocery bags in the backseat and shut the door. She turned to face him, hands on her hips. "What the hell are you doing smoking? Mom never mentioned that."

"She doesn't know. Talisa doesn't even know."

Sansa tried not to let the mention of his wife bother her.

"Why are you smoking?" she asked.

"Stress," he said with a shrug.

"Moving?"

"Among other things."

She bit her lip. _Don't do it, Sansa, just don't…_ "Mom told me about…" she gestured to him. _Oh my god, Sansa, why?_

"The affair?" he asked with a smirk. "I figured she had already. Like when it happened."

"She didn't. She just told me yesterday after you and Talisa left. Something about having to kiss every time one of you leaves the room?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's supposed to help me learn how to show affection. Apparently one can't just leave the fucking room anymore without having to make it a big fucking deal."

While Robb had never shied away from using an expletive or two it surprised her to hear him swear like that, and so vehemently, too.

"You're angry," she said.

"No shit, Sherlock. Wouldn't you be?"

"If Willas cheated on me? Yes, of course I would be. I just…I don't understand though…"

"What don't you understand?"

 _How you have a problem showing affection. That was never a problem for you. You couldn't keep your hands off me._

She waved a hand. "Never mind."

He studied her for a moment as though trying to decide if she should say or do something. She had a feeling he knew exactly what she was thinking and was debating whether or not he should comment on it.

This was the hard part: navigating through the millions of land mines that were between them. How did you make a comment on your brother's inability to show affection to his wife when your experience with him in a romantic capacity was that he had no trouble showing affection at all? How did you show sympathy for his plight in having a wife that cheated on him when you didn't like his wife for the simple fact that Talisa got him and Sansa didn't?

"You're not carrying anything," Sansa said to change the subject. "Did they not have what you were looking for?"

He sighed. "No, they didn't."

"Willas might be able to help you out with whatever it is. He's a contractor…"

"I know," Robb muttered. "I hear all about how handy he is from Mom."

He sounded bitter about it, too.

Sansa shifted on her feet. "Well, um, I should get going. I have frozen stuff in there."

"Could I follow you home?"

She blinked. "What?"

"Could I follow you home?"

"Why?"

"Because I haven't seen your house yet and I'd like to?"

How did she say no? How could she say no?

She couldn't.

"Sure," she said. "Where are you parked?"

He pointed over his shoulder again and grinned. "Right behind you as a matter of fact." She recognized his cherry red truck and nodded. "Just wait for me."

She nodded again and climbed into her car. She started it up and watched Robb in the rearview mirror get into his truck and start it up. He flashed his lights and she backed up and then pulled out slowly to make sure he was behind her.

The whole drive home she wondered what the fuck was even happening. He was coming to her house now? She didn't want him in her house. She didn't want to imagine him there after he left. How was this not hard on him? It actually kind of pissed her off that it wasn't. Just a five minute conversation in the parking lot of Whole Foods and Home Depot and she was maxed out. Now she was going to have him in her house? Alone?

 _I do not want this, I do not want this, I do not want this_ , she said to herself over and over until she was pulling into the driveway of her one story ranch with a wrap-around porch. Robb's truck made a lot of noise behind her and she climbed out of her car and frowned as she watched him cut the engine and climb out.

"What?" he asked.

"Your truck is loud."

"So?"

"I hate trucks."

"Since when?"

"Since they're loud. Plus, their drivers can be really obnoxious."

He looked almost amused. "How's that?"

"In the winter they think because they're in a big ass truck they own the road. One nearly caused me to drive into a ditch."

He held up his hand and made the Boy Scout Salute. "I solemnly swear to never do that to you or anyone else. Even if you are driving a pretentious Prius."

"It's better for the environment, and it's not a gas guzzler like yours," she pointed out.

Robb dropped his hand and sighed. "Sansa, have I done something to piss you off? You seem really on edge."

 _You met and married Talisa after only a year of being away from home! I couldn't even date anyone because I kept comparing them to you and you were already in a serious relationship!_ she screamed at him in her head.

Well. Apparently she'd been carrying that around for a while.

She opened the back door to her car and grabbed her grocery bags. "I'm sorry," she said a bit tightly. "I've been a little stressed lately too."

He didn't respond. He remained silent until they got inside the house. She started to unload the groceries while Robb looked around. She loved her house; it was her sanctuary, and she had made sure to decorate it in a way that would make it feel as such. The style was shabby chic – furniture that looked worn, overstuffed couches and chairs with a country-style print, white washed walls and hardwood floors. Plus, flowers – real ones, whenever she remembered to get some.

She was just putting the last of her groceries away in the fridge when Robb came back in. He looked grim. She frowned. "What is it?"

"What?" He shook his head. "Nothing. I like it. It's nice. You've even got a backyard with a fire pit. Nice grill, too."

"Thanks," she said. What did one really say to that?

Silence fell.

"So, this is in your name then?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes. I told Willas we'd put him on the deed after we got married."

Robb nodded and looked toward the door. "Well, I guess I should get going."

 _Oh, thank God,_ Sansa thought.

He headed for the door and Sansa followed him out. He jogged down the four steps to the ground and looked up at her, his hand over his eyes like a visor blocking the sun. "I'll see you on Sunday."

"Yep. Sunday."

"Fish again?"

"No, I think it'll be okay if Mom has steak then."

He nodded. "I'll bring some and grill them up."

"Willas can show you how to use the new grill we got her."

Robb scowled. "I can figure out how to use the goddamn grill without his help, Sansa."

She hadn't expected him to snap at her like that, and she didn't know what to say to him in return, but then she didn't have to really worry about it. He marched off to his truck, climbed in, and lit up a cigarette almost immediately.

Sansa went back in the house before he even pulled down the driveway. She was aware that part of her had wanted him to stay while the other part was happy he'd left. She felt tears sting her eyes and she shook her head and marched down to her office to check her emails. Nope, she wasn't going to cry. There was nothing to cry over anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

_"_ _Robb! Robb! They're all gone now!" Sansa exclaimed as she ran down the hall and into Robb's bedroom. He looked up from the book he was reading on his bed and grinned at her. Wordlessly, he held out a hand to her and she came over to him, grinning. He put his book down and Sansa climbed over him, straddling him, and bent her head just as he raised his to kiss her._

 _She hummed happily in the kiss and Robb grinned up at her as he held her by the waist. "What would you like to do, sweet girl?" he asked her._

 _She ran her hand over his chest and bit down on her lip, looking up at him through her lashes coyly. "What do you think?"_

 _"_ _Funny. That's just what I had in mind when Mom and Dad said they were going shopping."_

 _Robb gently moved them so that Sansa was on her back on the bed and he crawled over her and kissed her deeply. "I love you," he whispered._

 _She smiled and caressed the side of his face. "I love you too, Robb."_

"Where are you tonight?"

Robb looked at his wife who had just pulled him from his wandering memories. He cleared his throat and put his fork down on their dining room table. "Nowhere. Right here."

"I was trying to tell you about my first day at work and you were doing that thing again."

He looked at her, puzzled. "What thing?"

"Where you just stare off like you're lost in some kind of fantasy."

"I'm sorry. Tell me again?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Why don't you tell me about your day instead?"

"I ran into Sansa at the grocery store. Well, she was coming out of the grocery store and I was coming out of Home Depot. I saw her and we went to her house."

Talisa nodded. "That's great. Did you like her house?"

That's right. Seeing Sansa and spending any kind of time with her was not the same for others as it was for him. For Talisa it was just a brother and sister hanging out together. She had no way of knowing how difficult it had been to go to her house and see the place she shared with her fiancé. Christ, just the fact that she had a fiancé. She shared a bed with him. She shared a house with him. She was going to share her _life_ with him.

He couldn't stop thinking about it. How Willas, or Bob the Builder he called the man in his head, was going to marry Sansa. _His_ Sansa. But what did he expect? That he would do the stupid thing and get married and she would somehow remain single, remain _his_ , forever? He was the one that had rushed down the aisle thinking it would somehow put a salve of some sort over the wound of losing Sansa. He'd though it would help him move on just as they'd promised each other they would do. Move on. Live a normal life. Fall in love with someone who was normal and healthy to fall in love with.

Except no woman was ever going to mean a much to Robb as Sansa did. He'd known it then and he knew it now while he carried on with this fucking farce of a marriage.

God, he was so _unhappy_. And he had been for so long, but what was going to make him happy wasn't something (or, someone) he could have, so he just kept pushing forward thinking he just had to muddle through it and focus on the parts he did like. It was just that after Talisa confessed she'd been having an affair with one of the teachers in her building (she was an elementary school teacher), Robb was hard-pressed to find anything he did like about his marriage and his life at present.

Not affectionate enough. That's what Talisa's big complaint had been. He was distant. He didn't show her he loved her and cared about her. It struck him as funny – and quite sad. It was apparent to him that what he felt for Talisa was never going to match what he felt for Sansa. God, he remembered not being able to keep his hands off Sansa. Every time they were alone he had to be touching her. A hug, a kiss, his arm around her – touching her had been addictive. Fucking hell he'd loved her so much he couldn't get enough of her.

Not for the first time he wondered why had they given up? Why didn't they try to find a way to be together? If it had meant settling for pieces of Sansa and having to sneak about and hide behind closed doors then so be it. That had to be better than _this_ , this half life he was living.

Was it really fair to move away from the man Talisa had had the affair with? Sure it had been her idea, but maybe in agreeing and continuing to live this lie Robb had robbed her of a happy life with someone that could give her what she wanted when he clearly couldn't.

He was trying but it was half-hearted at best and now being in the same town as Sansa…

He wanted to kiss her to the point of distraction.

But he was married. And she was engaged. They were supposed to be living a better life. _Where is it?_ Robb wondered. _When does it begin?_

Was Sansa really and truly happy with Willas?

He wanted to say no. He'd seen Sansa truly happy before. He'd seen her laugh until she was doubled over, and he'd seen her smile so hard she'd complained her face hurt. And all those times had been with him. Did Willas make her laugh like that? Did he make her smile like that?

He couldn't even think about her in bed with Willas without wanting to punch something – preferably him. Robb had been her first. He liked to think that held some kind of place for him in her heart – despite the fact that her first had been with her _brother._

Talisa's fork slamming down on the table caught Robb's attention. She glared at him.

Crap. He'd done it again.

"I'm going to chalk this up to having a lot on our plates right now and not believe that you've just checked out completely," she said. "So, I'm going to go upstairs and take a hot bath. Do you mind cleaning up?"

Robb shook his head. It was the least he could do.

Before she went upstairs she came over to him and kissed him quickly. He felt nothing. Instead, he thought of Sansa and how when he'd left that afternoon he'd been pissed with her for suggesting he couldn't work a fucking grill without Willas's help. Was there nothing Willas couldn't do? He could fix everything, build anything, get Robb the parts he needed – it had irritated Robb to no end.

He watched Talisa head to the stairs absently, his mind already wandering again.

 _"_ _I love you, I love you, I love you," Sansa said between kisses pressed first to each of his cheeks and then to his lips. She lay under him, naked and warm._

 _Robb moved so that his head was pillowed on her breasts. "Can you imagine being like this always?" he asked._

 _"_ _Naked and sweaty?"_

 _He laughed and pressed a kiss to her breast. "Well, yes, but mainly just together and happy."_

 _She grew silent and started to run her hands through his hair. He shut his eyes, a soft smile on his lips._

 _"_ _Maybe one day?" she asked, but she didn't sound convinced._

 _Robb decided to pretend that she was instead optimistic and maybe knew something he didn't. "One day," he repeated, taking the 'maybe' right out of it._

 _He glanced at the clock. They still had some time before their family returned home and he wanted to make the most of it. He slid down her body and parted her legs. She looked up at him with eyes grown hot with desire. He smiled and lowered his head._


	6. Chapter 6

Sansa hated the fact that she now had to take a week to mentally prepare for the weekend and seeing Robb. She had barely recovered from running into him outside the grocery store and now she was about to spend an evening with him and his wife.

Wonderful.

"You ready to go?" Willas asked as he came into the kitchen where Sansa was putting dishes from the dishwasher away. It was no coincidence that she had decided to get around to putting them away minutes before they were due at her mother's rather than in the morning when she'd run the wash through.

"Almost," she said.

"You know if we're late your mother is going to be calling."

"Then help me," Sansa said with a bit of an edge in her voice. She couldn't help it, even if she recognized it and felt bad about it. She had been on edge all week, and then even more starting yesterday when she knew she would be seeing Robb again very soon.

She was torn between wanting to tell him to fuck off and wanting to fuck him. She had even found herself wondering if one kiss would hurt. If it would be a game-changer and she'd find there was nothing at all anymore between them. That it was all in her head and only her memories that were fueling these desires.

"You okay?" Willas asked as he came over and started to help.

"I'm fine," she chirped. "Why?"

"You're not fine, Sansa. You've been on edge all week. What is it?"

"It's nothing. Just, you know, changes. Not used to the changes yet."

"But they're nice ones, aren't they? With Robb being back home and all. I was thinking we should invite them over for dinner some night. Talisa seems really nice and I'd like to get to know your brother better."

"Talisa had an affair on my brother," Sansa said. Willas looked at her in surprise. She shrugged. "My mother told me last week."

"Wow," Willas muttered. "The poor guy."

"Mmm."

"Is that why they wanted so badly to move back here? Partly your Mom and partly to get Talisa away from the guy?"

"Yes. I guess they thought they needed a fresh start."

"I would say so. I definitely think it'd be good to invite them over then."

Sansa turned to him after putting a glass away and just stared at him. "Why?"

"Because even though your brother grew up here it's still a change for them, and knowing they have a support system other than your mother might help."

"My Mom is a great support system!"

"Sansa, she's only one person. Your brother would probably benefit from having you to talk to about stuff."

She gaped at him. "About his problems with his _wife_?"

"Yeah, why not? It's what siblings do." He grinned. "You could bitch to him about all the things I do that annoy you if you wanted."

"I'm just not sure it's the best idea to get involved in their affairs," Sansa murmured.

"He's your _brother_ , Sansa, and he's probably hurting. It would be good of you to reach out to him."

She watched him close the dishwasher up and wipe down the counter in silence. It wasn't as if Willas knew what he was asking. To him she was just being cold. She pursed her lips together knowing she was about to open a can of worms, but somehow unable to stop herself from doing it.

"You think I'm cold and awful don't you?" she asked.

Willas tossed the sponge in the sink. "I think that you have your moments."

"When?" she demanded.

He sighed. "Sansa, do we really have to get into this right now?"

"Yes, we do. I want to know when you think me cold."

"When things get a little too…emotional. Have you any idea how often I feel like I'm the woman in this relationship? Sometimes you just shut down on me and I wonder what I've done."

"Then why do you want to marry me if I'm so awful?" she asked bitterly.

He gaped at her. "Sansa, I never said you were awful first of all, and I want to marry you because I love you. It's not like you shutting down on me has been a deal breaker for me. I just figure it's part of who you are."

It wasn't though. Or at least she hadn't always been. She remembered being happy. She remembered being so in love she ached with it. She remembered sharing everything, every single part of herself.

With Robb.

She missed him. Oh, God, she missed him so much.

She hadn't felt whole since he'd left and now with him being here and being so close…she was in a constant war with herself of wanting to be with him and wanting to keep him away. How could she move on with him here? But then how long was it supposed to fucking take? He'd been gone for six goddamn years and she still hadn't gotten over it.

When she broke down in front of Willas he thought it was because of what he'd said. Sansa didn't bother to correct him. She let him hold her and kiss her and tell her he loved her and if she didn't bother to say it back to him, he didn't mention it.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sansa didn't look right when she and Willas arrived at their mother's and Robb wondered if they'd had a fight. Her eyes were a little red. _If he made her cry for any reason I will wreck him_ , he thought and tried to keep his temper in check.

He watched her go to where Catelyn was sitting on the deck and bend down to give her Mom a hug and a kiss. Catelyn held onto her hand when Sansa straightened and the two chatted a bit while Talisa looked on from beside Catelyn.

"Sansa tells me you might need some help with the grill," Willas said as he came over to where Robb was getting ready to put the steaks on.

Robb glanced over at Sansa who was most definitely not watching them, and shook his head. "Nah, I figured it out," Robb said.

"If you need anything—"

"I'll let you know. Hey, why does Sansa look upset?"

Willas grinned at him. "Is there where you play big brother?"

"Seeing as how I am her big brother I don't think I'd call it playing," Robb said and looked at him sternly.

Willas held up his hands. "We just had a chat about some stuff is all. It's fine."

"I haven't been around," Robb said and lit up the grill. "But I am now." He picked up the plate of steaks and started laying them on the grill. "I just want you to know that if you hurt my sister I'll hurt you."

Willas's smile fell. "So, Sansa never mentioned how terrifying you could be."

"Well, I've never really had any reason to be."

"No high school boyfriends you had to fuck up?"

"There was one. He didn't last long." _Only because after I beat the shit out of him Sansa ended up with me._

"You have my word, Robb. I will never do anything to intentionally hurt your sister. I love her. A lot."

Robb nodded. There was the brotherly part of Robb that was pleased to hear this man loved the amazing woman that his sister was, and there was the other part – the former lover part of him – that wanted to rip Willas apart for daring to lay a hand on her.

"So, um, Sansa and I were talking about maybe you and Talisa coming over some night for dinner," Willas said.

Robb stilled. _What kind of hell would that be?_ he wondered. To be in the home Sansa shared with another man together? It was hard enough being here with them. Yet how odd would it be for him to say no?

"That sounds great," he said. "Let me know when."

"I'll have Sansa contact you."

That meant Robb didn't have anything to worry about. Sansa was definitely not going to go out of her way to invite him over.

It wasn't until after dinner that Robb was able to have a moment alone with Sansa to actually find out what had made her so upset. He caught her in the kitchen doing dishes while Willas tended to the grill and Catelyn showed Talisa her various flower gardens. It seemed Catelyn had grown something of a green thumb since her heart attack. She said gardening calmed her.

"Why don't you just throw them in the dishwasher?" Robb asked her as he set some glasses down on the counter.

"It's full, and I kind of just wanted to do them," Sansa mumbled.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently as he leaned his hip against the counter. "You looked upset when you got here. Willas said you had a chat before you got here and it upset you."

She sighed and nodded. "Turns out you're not the only one that sucks at showing affection. Apparently I 'shut down'."

Robb just stared at her, his mind reeling. He wanted to ask if she loved Willas. If she felt for him what he felt for Talisa than there was no use for it. It would never work. They were doomed.

She shut the water off and turned to him, looking almost angry.

Later, Robb couldn't say who made the first move. He thought maybe he did, but then he also thought she might have. All he knew was that one second she wasn't in his arms and in the next second she was.

The second their lips touched, Robb felt like sobbing from the relief of it. He groaned and held her tighter to the point that his arms ached. He wondered idly if their lips would be bruised from the force of their kiss.

He wanted more of this, more of her. He felt like he couldn't get close enough. He wanted to buried inside her and not just with his dick, with his whole body. He was about to put her on the table when the sound of the porch door opening had them springing apart.

Robb stormed off into the bathroom to get his erection down and to calm himself. It was like no time had passed from when they were sneaking around and had to act quickly so that no one would see.

He went to the sink after shutting the door and splashed cold water on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror after drying his face and tried to remember that this couldn't happen. They'd split apart because they'd understood the impossibility of it. Starting up again would be wrong – not just because they were siblings but because he was fucking married and she was engaged.

But when he thought of how fucking good it felt to kiss her again, to hold her in his arms…

How was he going to let that go again?


	7. Chapter 7

Sansa lay in bed the next morning after Willas had left for the day and though she knew she didn't have to get up for a while, she was wide awake. She couldn't stop thinking about that kiss she'd shared with Robb.

Part of her felt guilty for having kissed him. Not just because of Willas but because of Talisa too. Yet part of her couldn't stop reliving it…wanting more of it. She hadn't felt that same passion for another since…well, Robb.

It felt as though a switch that had been long ago turned off inside her and switched on again and she couldn't figure out how to turn it off. She'd wanted to have sex with Willas last night but had stopped herself because she knew it wasn't Willas she would have been having sex with but Robb. Though that might have gone a long way in showing that affection Willas had said she didn't often show, it wouldn't have been fair to him to have Robb in her head the whole time. To have it be Robb she was making love to and not him.

Robb was in her head, and in her blood (literally) again. He'd never really left, to be honest, but he'd been dormant. She'd been able to push him to the recesses of her mind and push down the feelings she still harbored for him.

Now she was afraid she wouldn't be able to. With one kiss all that work she'd done to move on with her life had started to unravel. She felt it, like a thread pulled on a sweater. It wouldn't take much for her to completely unravel.

Which was why she had to stay completely away from Robb despite how her body ached and hear heart yearned for him. They had split apart for a reason. There was no normal life to be had for them if they'd stayed together. There was no "together" to be had. Their family wouldn't understand and sure they could move away but then what? Never see their family again? Live in fear of being discovered? No.

Often, in the beginning of their relationship when they were just discovering how they truly felt about one another, Sansa had wondered if they were sick. If there was something really wrong with them in their heads that made them feel this way about each other. You weren't supposed to fall in love with your sibling. You weren't supposed to want them. You weren't supposed to feel about them the way you might a crush.

And now, with one kiss, Sansa felt it all come rushing back. It scared the crap out of her too. She had gotten used to a certain way of living. With the absence of Robb her pain had given way to a level of numbness that she hadn't realized she'd been carrying with her all this time until now. Now she felt everything. Tears welled up in her eyes. Loss. She felt loss predominately. And stuck. She felt stuck in a life she had thought would make her happy enough…

Well, if that wasn't the problem right there. Happy "enough". That sounded horrible. Not truly happy, but just "enough" to survive. Is that what she'd been doing all this time? Just surviving? Not really living, not really feeling apparently either, but just surviving and being happy "enough" to get by?

No wonder she felt crushed under all these emotions now. Who would have thought one kiss could have woken up and unleashed so much? Then again, she should have known better.

Giving up on sleep, Sansa got up and made her way into the bathroom to get ready for the day. She was freshly showered, dressed, and making coffee while attempting to think about her appointments that afternoon when there was a knock at the door. She glanced at the clock. Robb was probably at work. He was a professor and he'd just started so he was probably staying on campus as much as possible to get acclimated.

 _Jesus, Sansa, it's not Robb_ , she scolded herself. Instead of relief though, she felt disappointment. No doubt Robb was going to avoid her like the plague from here on out, as well he should. And as well _she_ should. She was an engaged woman and he was a married man. They were brother and sister. There was no scenario in which this could work.

She went to the door after trying to see if she could see a vehicle in her driveway from the kitchen window. She couldn't. They must have parked super close to her garage. She opened the door and froze.

It _was_ Robb.

"Is Willas home?" he asked, his blue eyes boring into her.

Sansa felt as though the air had been sucked from her lungs. She shook her head, finding speech had escaped her.

"Good," he said and pushed his way inside. She backed up and he kicked the door shut with his foot. In the next instant, he was reaching for her. She was in his arms and he was kissing her as though the kiss from the day before had never ended.

"I couldn't stop thinking about this last night," he muttered against her lips as he lifted her. Her legs wound around his waist instinctively and he carried her into the living room and set her down on the arm of the couch. He kissed her hard and she met his passion with her own.

"Is he expected back soon?" Robb rasped as he pulled on her hair lightly, causing her head to fall back so he could leave hot, open-mouthed kisses down her neck.

"No," she whimpered. "Don't you have work?"

"I have an hour before my next class," he told her and released her hair so she could look at him. "I was hard all morning knowing I was going to come here. I had to come." His eyes welled up in tears. "Do you have any idea how much I've missed you?" His voice was hoarse. "I feel like I've been out of my mind all this time and I just woke up."

She nodded emphatically. "Yes. Exactly that."

"You too?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes," she whispered. "But—"

"No buts, Sansa," he murmured and kissed her. "Not now. Please, not now. I need you. I've needed you since I left and I can't wait anymore."

God, neither could she. She nodded her assent and some tugs and pulls later, their clothes were on the floor.

Robb teased her pussy with his dick. "Do I need a condom?"

She shook her head. "I'm on birth control."

"Thank God," he whispered and started to push himself inside her.

The enormity of this moment, of Robb being inside her again, hit Sansa like a tidal wave and she grasped at him as he slid inside her. She looked at him wide-eyed and he looked back at her, full of need and love and something that looked like despair. Once he was seated inside of her, he stilled and pressed his forehead to hers. "God, Sansa, I can't…it's been so long."

What he exactly meant, Sansa wasn't sure. So long since he had sex or so long since them? She chose to think it was so long since them and she nodded in agreement. He began to move inside her while she was still perched on the arm of the couch. Nothing had ever felt as good as Robb inside her, his naked body against her own. She kissed him hungrily and he kissed her back with the same ferocity.

His hands moved to her breasts and he cupped them in his hands and then broke their kiss to suckle at one breast, and then the next. Pleasure shot right through to her pussy and she tightened around him. He groaned and buried his face in her neck. "So good, San. It's never been so good."

Sansa held onto him as he began to move faster and harder inside her. She bit down lightly on his shoulder and then licked his skin. He growled and kissed her deeply.

"God, yes, fuck, I'm going to come," he announced.

"Do it," she whispered. "I want to feel your come inside me, Robb. I want to feel it dripping out of me all day…"

"Fuck!" he shouted and reached down between them to rub her clit. "Come with me, Sansa. I want to feel you squeezing my dick…come on, sweetling."

Her nails dug into his shoulders and her back arched as she cried out and came. "

"That's my girl, that's my sweet dirty girl," Robb rasped and after three hard thrusts, he held himself inside her and came.

Sansa clung to him, never wanting to let him go and he held onto her as though he felt th same.

"I love you so much," he whispered in her hear, his cheek against hers. "I've never stopped. I can't. You're so deep inside me."

"I thought it was the other way around," Sansa said shakily with a nervous laugh.

He didn't laugh. He simply moved his head to look down at her. He kissed her eyelids, her cheeks, and then her mouth. "I want you again," he rasped and lifted her up again. "Can I take you to bed?"

She wanted to say yes, but thoughts of Willas wouldn't let her. "No…I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said solemnly. "I understand." So he placed her down on the couch and then got down on his knees and licked at her slit. "You taste a little bit like me and a little bit like you," he murmured.

"Let me clean up," she said and started to get up.

He stayed her with one hand on her belly while grabbing a tissue out of the tissue box behind him on the coffee table. He wiped up the cum dribbling from her still and then shoved his face into her and proceeded to make her cum again.


	8. Chapter 8

Sansa spent the rest of the day in a daze. After she and Robb had made love again – and he'd made her cum for a _third_ time – he'd gone off to work and Sansa had gone to shower for a second time. Then she'd spent some time in the living room staring at the couch and wondering if the living room smelled like sex.

Then she'd gone to work feeling as though she was outside herself. Robb had kissed her on his way out the door, tie not yet tied, the top button of his shirt undone and his pants a little rumpled, and said: _"Don't overthink it, Sansa."_

Did he forget who he was dealing with? How could she not overthink this? And how could _he_ not? He was the one that was married!

And then the guilt set in. She'd cheated on Willas. Sweet and kind Willas who put up with her being emotionally distant (because of Robb) and a probably not very affectionate (because of Robb). He'd been so patient with her when it came to her not setting a wedding date yet. He'd been patient with her in _everything_. And this was how she repaid him?

And what of Talisa? Okay, well, she had cheated on Robb because he was apparently emotionally distant (because of Sansa) and not very affectionate (because of Sansa). But, regardless of whether or not she had cheated on Robb, she didn't deserve this.

So, basically, she and Robb had gone their separate ways in order to pursue normal lives and normal relationships so as not to hurt their family and themselves and in the span of what – a week? Two? – they'd gone and ruined everything they'd set out to do and shit on their respective relationships.

This was a mess. And it wouldn't work. Nor should it!

Either Robb had to take Talisa and go again or he just needed to stay away from Sansa. They'd gone from zero to sixty in no time flat. Sansa wasn't all that surprised either that it had happened that fast. After five years of being apart and then to finally come together (no pun intended)? That was a long time to be apart from the one you loved. It was a long time to pretend that the thing you knew was good for you was really just a place filler because you knew that no matter what the thing you actually wanted could never and would never be yours.

That kiss in the kitchen had been the last drop in the sink. If Robb had been anything like her, and she was imagining he was, he had been thinking of her all week the same as she'd been thinking of him. Even if they weren't actively in each other's presence it still felt that in a way, they were. Because they were close now. So close. It would have been so easy to just call him and say "I want to see you."

She'd known from the first touch of his lips against her that it was inevitable. She'd just pretended that sex wasn't going to happen. That they wouldn't go after each other like starving animals.

It had just felt so good to _feel_ again…

Her phone went off while she was in the middle of looking at area rugs for a client and she pulled out her phone. It was Robb.

 _Remember what I said_.

She frowned and typed back: _How can I not overthink it? How can you not?_

His response came back in no time: _Because it's been too long, San._

She frowned. _Somehow I don't think your wife, my fiancé, and Mom would see it that way._

He came back with: _We'll talk about this later._

She wrote back: _Not alone_.

She could almost hear him laughing when he typed back: _Chicken_.

Pretty much. She wasn't stupid. She knew what would happen if she was alone with Robb. Especially an amorous Robb. One touch from him and she'd give right in because…

No.

She wouldn't think it. Wouldn't say it. Then it would be like it wasn't real and it wasn't happening. It would be like she didn't feel that way anymore.

xxxxxxx

Later that evening while Robb was on the couch not watching TV and thinking about that morning Sansa, Talisa came home and walked by him, ruffling her fingers through his curls. "How was your day?" she asked as she bent down and kissed his cheek.

Robb had to mentally remind himself not to move away from her touch. His mind went back to that morning when he'd been eating Sansa out and she'd dug her hands in his curls and pulled when she'd cum. Just like the old days.

"It was good, how was yours?" he asked as he looked up at her.

Guilt slammed into him like a fist.

 _Shit._ He was married to this woman and he'd fucked Sansa that morning. And he'd been wondering how he could make it happen again.

He ran a hand down his face.

"It was all right," she said with a shrug. "Did you start dinner?"

Shit. He'd forgotten to take the chicken out of the freezer that morning. "Uh, I was thinking that we could go out to eat instead. You said you wanted to try that Thai place…"

Robb hated Thai. And somehow, Talisa constantly forgot that.

So, this was what guilt did to you. Made you choke down curry chicken.

She beamed at him. "Oh, Robb, you remembered!"

He forced himself to smile. "Of course."

She came around the couch, sat down next to him, and then snuggled into him. "I'm so proud of you, Robb. I know I've been hard on you, but you're trying, you really are. I know you are."

He thought of Sansa's red hair splayed across the pillows of her couch as he'd pounded inside of her that morning. Her pussy had clenched him so tight he'd seen stars when he'd come. Her skin had been flushed and sweaty and the last thing Robb had wanted to do was leave her.

"You love me too, right?" Talisa said, breaking him out of his thoughts. She was looking at him nervously and judging by what he'd actually heard he had already missed an important cue.

 _I'm going to hell_ , he thought.

He smiled again. "Yes, of course."

"Say it," she said. "Please?"

He saw Sansa in his mind's eye as she'd looked that morning. So beautiful and perfect and _his_ for at least one blessed hour. "I love you," he said.

Talisa leaned in and he knew she was going to kiss him. He kissed her back, thinking of the taste of mint on Sansa's lips when he'd kissed her after she'd opened the door.

Talisa pulled back and looked up at him with such love in her eyes it made Robb's gut clench. He was the worst sort of person because as guilty as he felt for making love to Sansa that morning and thinking about her while with his wife, he knew he was going to do it again. "What do you think we have sex tonight?" she asked.

His stomach dropped. Have sex with Talisa? That didn't feel right. It felt like…fucking hell, it felt like cheating on Sansa.

 _I am so fucked_ , he thought.

"Yes," he managed to say and felt another stab of guilt when she looked so happy. I'm sorry, he thought, but he didn't know who exactly he was apologizing to.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Flashback_**

 _Robb and Sansa sat together on the floor in Robb's bedroom watching TV. Their shoulders were touching and if either one of them thought it odd that lately they couldn't seem to get close enough to one another, neither one brought it up._

 _They couldn't have said when it started either._

 _Robb was only half-watching the movie. Mainly, he was very aware that Sansa was wearing skimpy shorts and a practically see-through t-shirt. It was late, these were her pajamas, but some sick part of him wondered if she'd done it on purpose. To entice him._

 _That was probably wishful thinking. And what brother would wish that his sister would want to entice him? Surely, there was something wrong with him. Just the other day he could have sworn she'd been checking him out while he'd been helping their Dad wash his car._

 _Robb might have taken his shirt off in the hopes that she would do just that._

 _The onscreen couple kissed for the first time and Sansa sighed dreamily and rested her head on his shoulder. He smiled down at her. "All right?"_

 _"_ _I want that."_

 _"_ _To be kissed in a snowstorm during a zombie apocalypse?"_

 _"_ _Yes."_

 _He laughed and allowed himself to at least kiss the top of her head._

 _Sansa shifted so that she could look up at him. "Robb, can I ask you a question?"_

 _"_ _Of course."_

 _She bit her lip and Robb found he couldn't take his eyes off her mouth. He had to force himself to look away and he did, by rubbing the back of his hair and grabbing his can of Coke off the floor beside him. He took a sip and looked over at her. "What is it?"_

 _"_ _What was your first kiss like? Was it super romantic like in the movies? Or was it just wet and gross and lame?"_

 _He laughed. "Well, I mean there was no swelling music, and the lights weren't just so, but it wasn't bad."_

 _She made a face. "It 'wasn't bad'? That's a ringing endorsement."_

 _"_ _I'm a guy; I'm not supposed to think about whether or not a kiss is romantic or not."_

 _"_ _Well, that's disappointing."_

 _He cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"_

 _"_ _It's just…it's just that I don't know…you're my big brother. You and Dad are the most important male relationships I'll ever have. They say that you always pick a guy like your Dad, and I've always thought I'd like a guy like you and I imagined you to be super romantic and…" she trailed off and looked at him helplessly._

 _Robb noticed her cheeks were starting to redden. His heart started to race. There was a slight roaring in his ears. "Sansa…you've imagined me that way…? What – what does that mean?"_

 _She swallowed, seeming to realize that she'd sort of confessed something vital. She got to her feet quickly. "Nothing, forget it. You know what, I'm really tired so I think I'm going to turn in and—" When she started to go, Robb snagged her hand and stopped her._

 _"_ _Don't go," he whispered. He let go of her hand and got to his feet._

 _Sansa watched him nervously, seeming to understand that something had changed. Shifted. Robb looked down at her, and reached out with one hand to cup the side of her face. She sucked in a sharp breath and looked up at him wonderingly._

 _He leaned down and brushed her lips with his once, twice, three times. She gripped his shirt front in her small hands. "Robb," she breathed._

 _"_ _Is that romantic enough for you, Sansa?" he asked softly._

 _She looked up at him and nodded. Robb kissed her again._

 ** _End Flashback_**

Talisa snorting in her sleep jerked Robb from his memory of the first time he and Sansa kissed.

The kiss that had started it all.

Talisa rolled over and slung an arm across his front. Robb got up out of bed and went downstairs. He just couldn't be in bed with Talisa right now. Not while making love to Sansa was still fresh in his mind.

Thankfully, sex with Talisa had not happened that night. She had felt too bloated after dinner to do it. She had been so worried that he'd been upset about it and he'd had to spend almost a half an hour assuring her that it was fine.

She had offered to go down on him, but Robb had said no. He would probably have to turn in his guy card after that. What guy didn't take a woman up on their offer for a blow job? One that couldn't imagine any part of her touching him again after having had Sansa again.

Grabbing his phone from the charger in the kitchen, Robb went to the living room and sat down on the couch. He looked around at the unopened boxes they still had and thought maybe he could quietly unpack a few to expel some energy.

In the end, he decided no. Instead, he thought he'd take a chance and see if Sansa was still awake. It was only midnight. She still could be. So he sent a quick text: _You awake?_

Just when he thought she wasn't, she replied: _Yes._

He smiled and typed: _I miss you._

Sansa: _Don't._

Robb: _Don't what?_

Sansa: _You know exactly what._

Robb: _Is your phone on vibrate?_

Sansa: _Are you being dirty?_

He laughed to himself as he typed out: _No, I am just wondering if Willas is awake._

Sansa: _He's not. He's asleep in the other room._

Robb: _Are you having trouble sleeping too?_

Sansa: _Sort of. It's not unusual for me to be up late._

Robb: _I miss you._

Sansa: _You already said that._

Robb: _I wish I was with you. Or you were here with me._

Sansa: _Three's a crowd, Robb._

Robb: _Do you love him the same as me?_

Sansa: _Don't._

Robb: _When can I see you? We need to talk._

Sansa: _We're talking now._

Robb: _Don't be cheeky._

Sansa: _I'm free at lunch tomorrow. Do you want to meet at Panera?_

Robb: _Still sticking to that public place, huh?_

Sansa: _Robb…please._

Robb: _I'm sorry. I can't help it. You make me lose my mind._

Sansa: _Short trip._

Robb: _Ha ha. What time is lunch?_

After making plans to meet, and making sure that he knew where Panera was, they said good-bye to one another.

Robb: _I love you._

Sansa: _Ditto_

He sighed. Okay, so this wasn't an ideal situation and he couldn't very well expect her to be on the same page as him. They had agreed to go their separate ways. He was the one that had went and gotten married in a desperate bid to get over Sansa and move on with his life without her.

All he'd done was fuck everything up by marrying a woman that would go on to cheat on him because he was incapable of showing Talisa the same kind of affection and love he showed Sansa. He had tried so hard in the beginning too…had almost had himself convinced.

 _Not even close, who are you kidding?_ he thought bitterly.

He wanted to make this better. All of it. He just didn't know how. He was pretty sure that pursuing anything with Sansa was a recipe for disaster but…fuck. He couldn't help himself. After being away from her for so long how did he give her up now? After being so fucking goddamn miserable, how did he pretend that he was in love with his wife and didn't want the only woman he was pretty sure he would ever love?

Robb stretched out on the couch and looked up at the moon through the window behind him. He should go back to bed. If Talisa found him down here she would think he was upset with her. He didn't want to go down that road with her.

He sighed. _In a minute_ , he thought.

Soon, he was fast asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Sansa hated that she spent longer than normal choosing an outfit to wear to meet Robb. She didn't want to wear something revealing, but she also didn't want to look all buttoned up. So, she went somewhere in between. She wore black dress pants and a soft blue silk top with a suit jacket over it. She curled her hair so it fell in soft waves around her shoulders, and wore her eye make-up smoky.

She contemplated changing into sweats and washing her face clean at least five times before she left to meet him.

He was waiting for her outside wearing dark blue jeans, a white shirt with some kind of print on it, and a suit jacket. Sansa decided to leave her suit jacket in the car. With shaking hands, she grabbed her purse, slung it over her shoulder, and then made her way over to him from across the street.

Robb saw her almost immediately and he broke into a grin as he watched her make her way over to him. Sansa found it hard to look at him directly. For one thing, he was just to pretty, and for another he made her nervous in the fluttery "butterflies-in-my-belly" way. He was her brother for cripes sake and she was acting like a schoolgirl on her first date, not as a grown woman _with a fiancé_.

"Hello, gorgeous," he said as soon as she walked up to him.

She darted a look around and shot him a reprimanding look. "Don't say things like that out loud where anyone can hear you," she hissed.

"Then tell me how we're supposed to have a frank discussion about what happened yesterday in a busy restaurant?" He had her there. She just narrowed her eyes at him and he laughed. "So you admit then, that it would be virtually impossible?" he asked.

She pursed her lips together. "Then what do you propose?"

"Your place free?"

"Don't even, Robb Stark. I know what you're thinking."

His eyes were bright with mirth. "And what am I thinking?"

"That it'll happen again," she hissed.

"I wish."

"Let's get something to go and then go to the park."

"Oh, a romantic picnic then?"

She shot him a withering look and he laughed.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Twenty minutes later, Robb climbed into Sansa's car at the park and opened the Panera bag they'd gotten with their orders inside. Robb handed her the carton with her sandwich and salad inside and he opened his with his sandwich and chips inside.

He took a long sip of the soda he'd gotten there and stuck it in her cup holder before digging in to his sandwich. Sansa bit into hers and while she chewed she took a minute to see if anyone was around.

It was actually rather dead. Just a mom and her son over on the playground, and she and Robb were far away enough in the parking that she could barely make them out. Aside from a couple other vehicles, no one else was about.

"Talisa wanted to have sex last night," Robb said.

Sansa swallowed what she'd chewed and forced herself not to react. She looked over at him as he munched on a chip. "Oh?"

"She was excited, I think, because I told her we could go to that Thai place in town in for dinner."

"You hate Thai," Sansa said flatly.

"She always forgets that."

"Why did you go?"

"Because I was feeling guilty I suppose."

Sansa nodded slowly and took a bite of her salad.

"But it didn't end up happening," Robb said. "She gets, well, gassy after Thai—"

Sansa snorted and then giggled. She held up a hand when Robb looked over at her. "Sorry. Sorry. I just didn't expect you to say that."

He grinned. "How unsophisticated of you to laugh at something so base."

"So, she wanted to jump your bones because you took her to get Thai food?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Why do I find that sad?"

"Because it is. Talisa and I haven't had sex in months."

"Is that why you were so eager yesterday?"

He looked at her in a mixture of hurt, anger, and frustration. "No, Sansa, I was eager yesterday because it was _you_. Because I've never stopped wanting you and loving you. Because the idea of having sex with you got me more excited than any time I've ever had sex with Talisa."

Properly chastised, Sansa took a bite of her sandwich.

"Why did you have sex with me yesterday?" he asked.

She looked away from his penetrating gaze and pretended to be engrossed in watching the kid and his mom.

"Sansa, answer me."

"What does it matter the reason?" she asked.

"Maybe I'd liked to know it wasn't just an itch you wanted scratched."

"I don't have the same problems with Willas that you have with Talisa."

He put the half-eaten carton of food on her dashboard. "Meaning?"

"Do I really need to spell it out for you?"

He sighed, the sigh of frustration. "So you and Willas have an active sex life."

"I wouldn't say we go at it every day, but it hasn't been months."

"Do you like it better with him than with me?"

Now Sansa put her carton of food on the dash. "Robb, Jesus, what the hell?"

"I fucking hate this, Sansa. I hate seeing you with someone else. I hate being married – I hate the whole goddamn thing."

She'd never seen him so angry. He opened the car door and climbed out, slamming the door shut behind him.

Sansa just stared out the window at him as he paced, feeling very much at a loss as to what to say or do. Finally, she got out and went to the back end and stood there. He looked up at her and stopped pacing, his hands on his hips.

"You shouldn't have come back here," she said.

"My mother had a heart attack. We already lost Dad, and you're the only one here to help look after her. How could I not come back home? I just didn't think it would be this hard!"

Sansa couldn't stop the tears from coming. Robb was hurting, that much was obvious. So was she. "Obviously, I slept with you because I never stopped loving you and wanting you either," she said. "But we made a pact—"

"I don't care. I can't be here and not want to be with you. I can't continue on with this marriage that I didn't even want—"

"Yeah, about that," Sansa said. "Did you literally find the first woman that crossed your path to settle down with or…? I mean, the corpse of what we had was barely cold before you were shacked up with someone else. What the hell _was_ that?"

"I was trying to move on instead of wallowing in how I missed you so fucking much. We agreed to move on with our lives and have normal relationships. That's what I was trying to do. I wanted to feel for Talisa the way I felt for you. I wanted to want her as much as I wanted you but I never did. I failed. Epically, in fact. I thought I could take all those feelings for you and put them on her and all it did was rip me apart inside. Not affectionate enough?! What kind of shit is that, Sansa?"

"I don't what it is you want to do. You just moved here, Robb. With your _wife_. I'm engaged. This is even more impossible than it was before because now there are other people involved here."

"Do you love him the way you love me?"

"Why do you ask me these things?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Maybe because you're so buttoned up now. I used to be able to read you like a book and now it's like you've just closed yourself off—"

"Having your heart ripped wide open will do that to a person. You think this is easy for me? It's not. I hate it too! But what can be done about it, Robb? Fuck around? You divorce Talisa and I break off my engagement with Willas? Then just what – hide it from Mom until she wonders why neither of us have any inclination to date?"

"Compared to what I'm doing now that sounds a lot fucking easier."

At a loss yet again as to what to say or do, Sansa wiped at the tears that had fallen and gestured to her car. "Come on, you have to get back to work and so do I."

He sighed and nodded, looking very much as though that had just sucked the life out of him.

The ride back was quiet and when Sansa pulled up beside his truck in the municipal parking lot, and put her car in park so he could get, Robb leaned over, took her face in his hands and kissed her. At first it took her by surprise, then she sort of fell into it, but then, remembering where they were and how anyone could see them, she batted at his arms and pushed him away.

"Anyone could have seen us," she said.

"Just wanted to give you something to think about the next time you and Willas have sex," he said, sounding angry. He got out of her car and slammed the door shut without another word.

Sansa waited until she was sure his truck started before she put the car in drive and left. She cried the whole way home.


	11. Chapter 11

Sansa didn't hear from Robb for a week. He didn't even come to family dinner, saying he had papers to grade already and couldn't make it. Catelyn had been disappointed, and Sansa had been tempted to text him and tell him to get his head out of his ass and come over for he was upsetting their mother.

In the end though, she decided that perhaps silence was best. He might take her text or call as her trying to engage with him and she didn't want to do that. Well, she did and she didn't. It was all terribly difficult and confusing and she hated it with a passion.

Three days later, she went to accompany her mother to the doctor and found her not at home. She tried to call and her phone went straight to voice mail. So, she went to the doctor's office and learned that her mother had been there, earlier in fact, and had already left. The nurse at the desk took great delight in telling her how her "very handsome" and "charming" brother had been with their Mom, and "what a sweet boy he was" for doing taking his "sweet mother" out like that.

Sansa wasn't going to lie - after having been taking care of Catelyn since her heart attack, she felt a bit put out. Jealous even, which was ridiculous. The nurse had certainly never said how sweet she was for taking Catelyn to the doctor. No doubt because Sansa asked questions and didn't just take what they said at face value. It felt like a dig from the nurse, and it probably was.

"Did they happen to mention where they were going after?" Sansa asked.

"They did! That sweet charming boy said he was taking her out to lunch."

Sansa didn't bother to mention that she always took her mother out lunch too.

She was being ridiculous for being this upset about it, she knew that. This was why Robb had moved back home to begin with. He wanted to be able to spend time with his mother and do these sorts of things to help Sansa out. What Sansa hadn't expected however, was to be pushed to the side in favor of Robb.

"I really don't think that's the case, Sans," Willas said when she'd called him to tell him what had happened.

"She didn't even call me, Willas."

"Are you sure? Did you check your messages?"

"I would have seen the message as soon as I picked up my phone!"

"Well, maybe it was just a weird fluke. I think you're getting too upset over something that doesn't matter. You got some time to yourself now. Look at it that way."

So, he hadn't helped at all. He wasn't even in the same state as his siblings so he didn't understand.

In the end, Sansa went back to her mother's house to wait for them to return home. She set up her laptop at the kitchen table and did what she could online. She heard Robb's truck pulling into the driveway and a few minutes later she heard Robb and Catelyn yucking it up on their way inside.

When they got inside, Catelyn looked pleased and a bit surprised to see her. So that was something at least. "Sansa, honey! I didn't expect to see you! I saw your car in the driveway and I wondered if perhaps you didn't get my message?"

"The message that said Robb was taking you to the doctor instead of me? No, I didn't," Sansa said.

Robb shoved his hands in the pocket of his jeans. "Mom did call you. I was right there when she did it."

"I didn't get it. Not even a message," Sansa said.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened."

"Did you go into contacts or put my number in by hand?"

"I put it in by hand. You know I can't figure out how to get into contacts."

Sansa sighed. Had she even listened to the voicemail message of whomever she'd called? No doubt she'd instead been talking to Robb or listening to the radio instead and just waited until she heard the beep to speak.

Sansa sighed and closed the lid of her laptop. "What did the doctor say?"

"Clean bill of health," Catelyn said with a wide smile.

"So the tests from the last time—"

"Perfect." Catelyn sat down, reached out, and covered Sansa's hand with her own. "I'm fine, dear."

"And you've got all your prescriptions filled?"

"Sansa, she's a grown woman, not a toddler," Robb said.

Sansa looked at him venomously. "When was it decided that you were going today?"

"When I called to see how she was doing," Robb replied. "She said she had a doctor's appointment and that you usually take her, but I wanted to make up Sunday to her since I didn't come—"

"Did you finish grading your _papers_?" Sansa asked pointedly.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm sorry, but what exactly crawled up your ass and died, Sans?"

"Please, you two, don't fight," Catelyn said. "There is plenty of me to go around. Sansa, I'm sorry you didn't get my message. I'm not sure what happened and why you didn't get it, but I did call. We weren't trying to slight you or keep you out of the loop. I just figured you could use a break. You're always taking me, even when I am perfectly capable of doing it on my own."

That took some of the anger out of Sansa. "I know, Mom, but I like to be there with you. I like to know that you're okay."

"I am, sweet pea."

Sansa nodded. "Okay."

Catelyn squeezed her hand and then stood and kissed Robb's cheek. "I'm going to change and work in my garden. You two are free to stay if you'd like."

"Thanks, Mom," Robb said and grinned at his mother. "I wouldn't mind having some of your lavender lemonade and watching you work."

Catelyn patted his cheek with a little laugh and headed toward the stairs.

Sansa picked at a nail and pretended she still wasn't put out while listening for her mother's footsteps above her. When she heard them, she looked at her brother who was watching her intently.

"Are you that upset about not being the one to take her?" he asked. "You know I'm here to help, Sans."

"I know."

"But you don't want me to?"

She sighed. "I just like being there to ask questions that she doesn't ask. I like to know that I'm doing everything I can to keep her around. Please tell me you didn't take her out for something bad?"

"I took her to the diner."

"Robb—"

"She had a salad, Sansa."

She nodded. "Good."

Robb came over and knelt down before her. "San, look at me." She turned to face him in her seat and looked at him. "Mom is okay. She's going to be okay. I came home to help you and to help her. Let me take some of the burden."

"She's not a burden, Robb—"

He put his hand over her mouth and smiled warmly. "I know. But you need a break sometimes too. You've taken care of her very well."

"It's guilt is what it is."

"Over what?"

"I didn't come around a lot when Dad was sick. I couldn't handle it, knowing he was going and seeing him so bad off." Her eyes welled up tears. "It was hard and I was selfish and I regretted it after. I don't want to make the same mistakes with her."

"Sansa, come here," Robb murmured and pulled her down into his arms. He pressed a kissed to her temple. "Sweetheart, you did what you could. You know Dad would have never held anything against you. Neither would Mom. She doesn't. She doesn't even mention it."

"I just felt like a horrible daughter and a horrible person after all that he'd done for me."

Robb pulled back to look at her. He picked a napkin up off the table and wiped away her tears with it. "You're not horrible. And he never thought that for a minute."

"Thank you," she murmured. Her guilt wasn't gone, but he had assuaged it a bit for now at least. She wasn't quite sure that kind of guilt would ever go away.

"I know that things between us are not the best," Robb said slowly. "But I am still your brother, and I do love you. In more ways than one. I still want to help in any way that I can with Mom and with you."

"I'm fine, Robb. I was just being oddly jealous about you going with her instead of me. I've become a bit of a control freak."

"I've noticed."

She hit him playfully in the stomach, and he let out a grunt.

He then reached up and swept some hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "I've missed you," he whispered.

She'd missed him too, even if she had told herself she hadn't.

"Sansa, look at me."

She shook her head, keeping her gaze on the v of his shirt.

"Please," he pleaded softly.

Just as she was about to give in, they both heard their mother on the stairs. Robb got to his feet and walked towards the door. Sansa turned in her seat and opened the lid of her laptop. She set about powering off her computer. It was time to go far, far away from Robb.

Her mother came in the kitchen, happy to still see them there and she chattered on about her plants and how she wanted to plant some vegetables. Robb offered to help her, and Sansa packed up her laptop and grabbed her purse. "I'm off like a prom dress," she said. And then she reddened, thinking of how she and Robb had fucked on her prom night in the backseat of his car.

"We'll see you on Sunday?" Catelyn asked her.

"Of course. I'll bring lemon cakes this time." She kissed her mother's cheek and nodded to Robb.

"Sansa, give your brother a hug," Catelyn said, and it sounded a bit like an admonishment.

Sansa hurriedly hugged him, barely even letting him get his arms around her before she pushed away, and headed out the door, shouting, "Bye!" on her way out.


	12. Chapter 12

So of course this whole mess meant that Sansa had to finally pick a wedding date. Why not make things harder than they already were? That's what she kept thinking when she and Willas sat down at the kitchen table and set up a Wedding Calendar on the computer.

"Can we do it in six months?" he asked her.

She looked at him incredulously. "No! We have to get a JP, a place to get married, a place to have the reception—"

"What if we make it really simple and get married in your Mom's backyard? You've mentioned doing that more than once when we were dating."

She had mentioned that, yes. That would make a few things easier, but when she'd brought up the idea of setting a date she had thought at least a year or eighteen months out to give her time to plan, to really think about what she wanted, to…

To fuck Robb.

Christ.

What was she even doing? She was supposed to be putting obstacles in the way, and sending the message to Robb that they needed to figure their shit out with their significant others. Their ship had sunk. It was done. Over.

But, like a coward, she was instead still stalling in planning a wedding. She was so accustomed to not committing that even when she tried to she fucked it up.

"Six months in my parents' backyard it is then," she declared. "So that puts us in…November. Hmmm, maybe not then. Might be too cold."

"Let's see if we can do it in five then and make it October," Willas said. "Hey, what about a Halloween—"

"If you're going to say a Halloween themed wedding, I'm gonna just stop you right there."

He pouted adorably, and if Sansa wasn't internally freaking the fuck out, she might have kissed him.

"It might still be cold," she said. "You know how the weather is in New England in the fall. You never know if you'll get a warm October or a blizzard."

"So we have the ceremony at the house and invite a select few, but take the reception somewhere else."

"How about we set a tentative date for mid-October, and then change it if it we can't get a place for the reception?"

Willas smiled broadly. "Perfect. And of course we can ask Margaery if she'll do the cake."

Fuck. She'd forgotten about the fact that his sister was a baker and had already offered once to do their cake for them. So, of course she'd say yes.

"I'm hot. Are you hot?" Sansa asked rhetorically as she got up from the table and went to get herself a glass of water.

Willas didn't answer, but he was watching her. When she finished guzzling down a glass of water he just looked at her and said, "You're freaking out, aren't you?"

"I'm fine," she said, but it came out a bit shrill.

"What is it? Sansa, you do want to get married to me someday don't you? If you don't then tell me now—"

"I do! I do! See? See how easy I just said those words?"

He shot her a lopsided smile. "I just want you to be honest with me. Do you love me?"

"Yes, of course I do." _Just not the way I love Robb_. "I wouldn't have accepted your proposal if I didn't want to marry you." _If it was possible to marry Robb I would have._ "I'm just thinking about all the planning we have to do." _And I want Robb. I want my brother._

"Is that really it?"

She nodded adamantly while thinking _No no no!_

He rapped his knuckles on the table and then stood. "We can do this. We're a power team, you and I. What about The Mile Away for the reception? You love that place and the barn they have. We could have it in there."

"If they have the barn available that day."

"We'll find out tomorrow then, won't we? Then, maybe, they could cater."

The walls were closing in on her. "Great! Thank you for taking initiative." _Because I feel crippled by fear right now._

Willas grinned and swept her in his arms, kissing her with enthusiasm. He wanted sex. Sansa knew Willas's angling-for-sex kisses well. He always used a bit more tongue than usual when he wanted it. Robb had always kissed her a little deeper sometimes nibbling on her bottom lip, and then, of course, was the gleam he'd get in his eye.

 _Stop thinking about Robb already!_ she scolded herself. She pushed away from Willas. "Not right now, honey. I have some things to do first."

He studied her closely. "You're sure you're okay with this?"

She nodded. "I am I promise. It's just a few last minute things I need to order for a client."

He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "All right, all right. I'm just being paranoid. Now that we've finally set a date…"

"We sure did!" _Try not to sound hysterical or he'll know something is wrong_ , she told herself.

He looked at her a little funny, but didn't say anything. Instead, he kissed her, told her he was going to take a shower, and left the room.

Sansa sank back into her chair and stared at the date. October 15th. She was getting married on October 15th, and not to the man she'd wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

 ** _Flashback_**

 _Sansa straddled Robb on his bed during one of those rare instances when the family was out and it was just the two of them. He smiled up at her as his hands settled on her hips. She bent her head and kissed him softly, and she felt one hand fist at the back of her shirt._

 _"_ _I want us to be together forever," she declared. She was aware this was the romantic dreams of a sixteen-year-old girl, but she didn't care._

 _"_ _I want that too," he murmured as he slid his hands up her shirt._

 _"_ _I want us to live together in a place of our own so we never have to sneak around and hide what we feel," she continued, a bit breathlessly._

 _"_ _Where we can make love wherever and whenever we want," he said and drew her head down so he could kiss her._

 _"_ _I want to wake up in your arms."_

 _He smiled. "I want to fall asleep in yours."_

 _"_ _I want to watch a movie with my head on your shoulder," she said rested against him, tucking her head under his chin._

 _"_ _I want hello and goodbye kisses," he said._

 _Sansa lifted her head and kissed him. "I want you."_

 _Robb moved them so that she was pressed into the bed and he was above her. "I want you too," he said as he undid the snap of her jeans._

 ** _End Flashback_**

Robb was sitting on the couch on his laptop, trying to distract himself with grading homework assignments to keep himself from either going to see Sansa or at the very least sending her a text.

When he heard the front door open and shut, he tensed. He was doing that a lot lately when Talisa came home. Every moment together was filled with anxiety over whether or not she would want to try sex again.

She'd been upset when she'd discovered him on the couch in the morning after she had wanted it, and then didn't feel up to it after having Thai food. He'd explained to her that he was just having trouble sleeping, his mind going over his lecture for the next day, and that he had just fallen asleep on the couch while going over it again.

She'd bought it, but ever since then he wondered when he would be expected to perform again. He didn't know if he could do it. Wasn't sure that his "little buddy" would be up to the task. His dick wanted sex, but it wanted sex with Sansa, not Talisa.

He tried to act normal when Talisa sat down next to him on the couch and kissed his cheek. "Hey," she said softly.

He looked at her, remembering to smile warmly. "Hey. How was your day?"

She sighed. "It was fine. I missed you."

 _Smile again, Robb. Lie again, Robb._ "I missed you too."

"I was thinking I could make us dinner and we could sit outside." She moved so that she was cuddling into his side. He put his arm around her as a good husband would do. "We could have dinner by candlelight, have some wine, maybe go upstairs after…"

Shit. Fuck. Shit. Fuck.

"That sounds good," he said a bit stiffly.

Now it was Talisa who tensed. She sat up and looked at him, and Robb braced himself for her ire.

"Do you not want to have sex?" she asked, sounding more angry than hurt.

He didn't. It would feel like cheating on Sansa, but he couldn't exactly tell her that now could he? He was supposed to be trying here. Trying to be a good husband. Trying to be a husband period. But he felt as though he was suffocating.

He'd brought this on himself though, hadn't he? What had he been thinking moving back home? Had he honestly thought this would work? Not only were and Talisa in the middle of trying to fix their broken marriage, but he was still in love with his sister. Sansa was right. Moving back was a mistake. Yet how could he not be here to help with his mother? She was the only parent they had left and he had missed so much being away when his father had passed on.

Why did doing what he thought was right come with so much fucking price tags?

"I do, I'm sorry. I'm just distracted with all this assignments I'm grading," he said, trying to sound as genuine and as heartfelt as possible. _Only one way to really sell this, old sport,_ he told himself and kissed her. Deeply. Passionately. The way he would kiss Sansa.

He shut his eyes tight and carded his fingers through her hair, imagining they were Sansa's red locks, even if the texture of their hair was different. Talisa's hair was a bit dry and brittle. Sansa's was cool and soft to the touch.

He'd convinced her, perhaps a little too well. Instead of waiting for sex for later, they did it right there on the couch.

Robb kept his eyes shut almost the entire time, letting Talisa think he was in the throes of passion, when what he was really doing was imagining it was Sansa who bounced up and down on his dick. And when he came, he moaned loudly, keeping himself from uttering Sansa's name.

Afterwards, a very happy Talisa went off to shower and get dinner ready while Robb cleaned off his dick with a few tissues and tucked himself back in his jeans. He sat there, feeling dirty and alone.


	13. Chapter 13

Sansa wondered what the chances were that she and Willas could just not tell her mother and Robb that she and Willas had set a date. She was pondering how not to tell them, and how to tell Willas to keep it locked up while they drove over for to Cat's for Sunday dinner. There was just no way to ask that without having to explain herself. And how would she explain herself? Perhaps she could tell Willas she just wanted it to be a surprise. And she almost convinced herself she could pull that off. Yet that would mean robbing her mother of helping her plan a wedding and she couldn't do that.

Fucking hell. A wedding.

She felt as though she was on a roller coaster going up the first hill and it was too late to get off.

The alternative was to be alone...like Robb would ever let that happen. Like she would be able to resist him.

 _Keep moving forward,_ she told herself. _Think about Willas and the life you two could have. How wonderful it could be. How sweet and kind he is..._

She thought about Robb sliding inside of her, holding her in his arms, smiling at her - and she was lost again. Feeling trapped.

"So I think we should tell them at dessert," Willas said. "What do you think?"

She nodded, forcing herself to smile. "Great, honey. Sounds good."

Willas beamed, and Sansa felt like shit.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Sansa couldn't look at Robb, not directly anyway. And she kept her distance, busying herself with helping prep food and make sure everyone had what they needed. She delivered drinks to Robb without even talking to him. If avoidance was an Olympic sport, she would have won the gold medal. This worked on several levels and not just avoiding Robb for an afternoon.

To cope, she had a few glasses of wine more than she usually had. She wasn't a big drinker so she was a bit of a lightweight to begin with. Two glasses and she would be pleasantly buzzed. Sansa had four and was on her way to drunk. Robb was, of course, the one to notice when she stumbled into the house with the dishes from dinner.

"You're drunk," he said after she'd laid the dishes in the sink.

"No, I'm not," she said defiantly. " 'm fine."

"Is this how you deal with me and family dinners now?"

She turned, leaning against the sink for support. "Oh, give me a shmall - _small_ \- break. A girl can't drink once in a while?"

He sighed. "This is the first time all day you've looked at me. And I can't help but think you needed liquid courage to do it. Why?"

Her eyes welled up in tears. "I'm getting married."

"I know that."

"No, Robb, we...we set a date. We're getting married in, like, five and a half months."

He looked as though she'd punched him. Sucked the life out of him. Ripped out his heart with her bare hands and ate it in front of him. It was how she felt when she'd learned he was getting married.

"Sansa, no," he rasped and staggered toward her.

The sound of the sliding glass door opening propelled Sansa to the fridge to grab the whipped cream and discreetly wipe her eyes. Robb didn't move.

"Oh, good, dessert time!" Catelyn said happily as she grabbed the strawberry rhubarb pie off the counter. "Follow me with that whipped cream, San!"

Sansa passed by Robb behind Catelyn. He grabbed her arm, and she looked at him. His eyes pleaded with her not to do this.

"Sansa, Robb, you two coming?" Catelyn called from the deck door.

"Coming, Mom!" Sansa called back and pulled her arm from Robb's grasp and headed outside. There was another glass of wine with her name on it.

xxxxxxxx

Talisa helped Catelyn cut the pie for everyone. Robb declined a slice and instead grabbed a beer from the cooler. He stood off to the side against the railing of the deck behind Sansa and Willas. He wasn't anywhere near her, but he may as well have been breathing down her neck for how Sansa felt about it.

Sansa had just bit into her slice of pie when Willas said, "So, we have some news."

Sansa nearly choked on rhubarb. He wasn't going to give her a heads up that he was going to do this now? Sure they'd agreed on dessert but it still felt too soon. She tensed, swearing she could feel Robb tense behind her too.

Catelyn and Talisa looked at them expectantly. Willas smiled and looked at Sansa. She forced a smile around rhubarb and strawberries. "We set a date!"

Catelyn and Talisa descended on them with a flurry of questions and Sansa let Willas take the lead, keeping her mouth full of either wine or pie.

"We'll need to go shopping for a dress. My treat," Catelyn said.

Sansa was about to tell her how she didn't need to pay for her wedding dress when she saw the expression on her mother's face and stopped cold. There were tears in her mother's eyes, and she looked so goddamned _happy_. What was hard just became harder because how could she take this away from her mom? The chance to help plan her daughter's wedding. To help pay for it as she and her father had promised so long ago.

"Of course," Sansa said, her eyes welling up in tears.

Her mother must have mistaken Sansa's tears for happy ones for she hugged her tight and whispered to Sansa just how delighted she was by this news.

She glanced at Robb who was still standing against the railing. Their eyes met, and he looked away abruptly and took a long pull of his beer.

xxxxxxxxx

Sansa laid in bed later that night, staring at the ceiling while Willas snored softly beside her. Despite the fact that she was exhausted, she couldn't sleep. She kept seeing Robb in her head, how wrecked he looked when she'd told him she and Willas had set a date. Then she kept seeing her mother's face, and how excited and happy she'd been.

Her phone vibrating against the wood of her nightstand startled her, and she knew without even looking at the phone that it was Robb texting her.

She picked it up, and sure enough there was his text: _You awake?_

She contemplated ignoring him, but found herself typing a response instead. _I am._

The next text didn't take long at all: _What the fuck, Sansa? What are you doing? You know this isn't going to work. It can't!_

Furious, Sansa got out of bed and padded out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen. She typed back: _Says the married man!_

Robb: _Yeah, and I'm living proof that it's not working. I'm fucking miserable. I love one woman, and she's not the one I'm married to._

Sansa: _Because it's illegal!_

Robb: _Don't marry him. You can't marry him while you still love me. Let's work this out, Sansa, and find a way._

Sansa: _There is no other way. We talked this all out before, remember? It's why you went away. Why we agreed to part ways. We knew there was no happy ending for us, at least not one in which we end up together. We have to make do with what we've got. Besides, you saw Mom today. She's so happy!_

Robb: I can't live like this for much longer. I have to picture you in order to have sex with her!

Sansa dropped the phone on the table as though it had burned her. She stared at it.

 _Sansa?_ he texted.

With shaking hands, she picked up her phone and typed: _You had sex?_

The three dots appeared. Then disappeared. Then appeared. Then disappeared. And then, finally: Yes.

 _Was it good?_ she couldn't help herself from asking.

Robb: _Jesus Christ. What the fuck kind of question is that?_

Sansa: _Well? Was it?_

Robb: _It was sex. In my head, sex with you, though I knew the whole time it wasn't you. Did you and Willas have celebratory sex when you set a date?_

Sansa (with a triumphant smirk): _No. I told him I had work to do._

Robb: _Don't you think it's telling that you didn't have sex with your fiancé on the night you set a date, Sansa? Do you plan to put him off on your wedding night too?_

Sansa didn't have an answer for him. Instead, she shut her phone off and went back to bed. She slipped her phone into her nightstand and lay down, staring up at the ceiling again.

She rolled over when tears sprang to her eyes. In case Willas woke up, she didn't want him to see her cry over what had been, and what would never be again.


	14. Chapter 14

"Yay! Dress shopping!" Talisa said excitedly from the backseat of Catelyn's car.

Sansa forced herself to smile. She waved her fists in a half-hearted celebratory manner, "Yayyy!" She wanted to ask what Talisa was doing tagging along on what she assumed was strictly a mother-daughter outing. But, since she wasn't really feeling the whole dress shopping thing she thought maybe it wasn't really that big of a deal.

Well, aside from the fact that Talisa naturally reminded her Robb. Robb, whom she hadn't heard from in three days and was actually worried about.

Sansa opened the car door and slid inside, and off they went.

When they got to the first shop Catelyn had picked out, Sansa wondered if it was possible that the sight of so many wedding and bridesmaids dresses could make her break out in hives.

"I remember looking for my wedding dress," Talisa said wistfully. "I kept trying to picture Robb in my head and how he'd react seeing me in it for the first time at the altar."

Sansa forced herself not to react. "And?" she asked. "How did he react?"

Talisa smiled. "He cried."

Sansa wondered now exactly what those tears meant.

"I hope you don't mind that I've tagged along," Talisa said.

Sansa shook her head. "Not at all. It's fine." Albeit a little awkward considering the conversation she and Robb had had the other night over text. She felt bad for Talisa…whilst being jealous of her too, which was quite odd. The woman had no idea that her husband was in love with someone else, and that the someone else was his sister. She had no clue of the turmoil Robb expressed feeling being married to her.

God, it made Sansa feel awful. It also made her wish that there was a way, some _way_ for them to get past all this and find some happiness with their significant others. There had to be a way, there just _had_ to be. How could this be it? How could _this_ be their life?

"Sansa, come look at this dress!" Catelyn said from a few feet away, standing in front of a row of dresses.

 _Come look at this dress_ is what she heard for the next hour. The hour after that was spent trying on dresses. At one point, Sansa just sat down on the bench in her changing room and sighed. She was tired. Exhausted, really. Her phone buzzed in her purse and she dug it out and keyed in her code.

 _How's the dress shopping going?_ was the message that came up from Robb.

 _The tulle is beginning to chafe_ , she wrote back.

 _Is it that or knowing you're marrying a man you don't love?_

 _That's a bit heavy handed, don't you think_? she typed with a frown. _Hey, Talisa said you cried when you saw her in her wedding dress. Did you really do that?_

The three dots disappeared, and then came back. _Yes_ , he replied. _Because it was too late to back out at that point. There was only one woman I wanted to spend my life with._

With a smirk she typed, _You were never going to get Britney Spears_.

No response. The three dots didn't even appear. With a sigh, Sansa got up and attempted to peel the dress off her when the message came through.

 _I know you're making a joke out of everything because this whole thing makes you uncomfortable. You don't want to marry Willas, Sansa. You're not in love with him. You're in love with me. Marrying him won't make what you feel for me go away. It'll just make it all worse. I know that better than anyone. Make your jokes now, and hide if that's what you want, but when you're ready to actually talk to me, I'll be here. Just make sure it's before your wedding date._

Tears welled up in her eyes. Fucker. He knew her too well, and knew just what to say to stop her in her tracks and make her feel like shit.

"Sansa, honey, do you need some help?" her mother called through the dressing room.

"No, Mom, I've got it!" Sansa called back, perhaps a bit too quickly. She wiped at the tears that fell and quickly deleted the messages on her phone. She changed back into her clothes and departed the dressing room, announcing that she was maxed out for the day.

Her mother seemed a bit disappointed that they hadn't found "The Dress", but Talisa assured her that these things took time and Sansa would know when the right one came along. Since that statement worked on a whole other level, Sansa didn't bother to comment on it.

xxxxxxxxx

When Sansa got home, exhausted physically, emotionally, and mentally, she was faced with an excited Willas who had called The Mile Away and was able to book their barn for the reception.

It was about then that Sansa thought she might throw up. The room had in fact begun to spin.

"San?" Willas asked, helping her to sit down when she gripped the back of a kitchen chair. "What's wrong? You okay?"

"I'm starving," she said. "My blood sugar is super low. I didn't eat much before my Mom and Talisa took me dress shopping for two hours."

He immediately went to the fridge and rummaged around. He pulled out a brick of cheese. He then went to the cabinets and came back with a small plate, a knife, and crackers. He placed it all down on the table before her and started slicing the cheese for her.

Sansa burst into tears. He was good to her. So good. He loved her. Willas _loved_ her.

All this confusion and heartache – it was Robb's fault. He'd returned home and had stirred it all up those old feelings again. If he had just stayed away, they wouldn't have fucked again, and she wouldn't feel like an animal trapped in a cage. While she understood the reasons for her his return, she wished he hadn't bothered. She could take care of their mother, she didn't need him to help.

Maybe that was selfish of her, God, she knew it was. But she didn't care. Robb had ruined everything. Before he'd come home she had been…comfortable. She had been prepared to marry Willas. Any feelings she had for Robb were pushed away, shoved down – she simply did not acknowledge them. She had not been so much resigned, but accepting of her life. If she felt she lacked passion for Willas, she didn't consider it a problem. She didn't need passion; she could live without it. Live without the headiness, the rush of desire, and the need that tugged and demanded attention, the giddiness of being with the one that made your heart race…

She didn't need it. It was all chemical anyway – she'd done a lot of reading on the subject of love after. She had thought if she could break it down into tiny bits and make it all logical and scientific, she could dispel any leftover feelings for Robb.

Denial and avoidance, she learned, worked just as well.

"Why are you crying?" Willas asked, clearly alarmed. He shoved cheese on a cracker at her. "Baby, what is it?"

"Don't call me baby," she whimpered. "You know I hate that."

"Why are you crying?" he asked again.

"I – I couldn't find a dress today," she lied.

He looked bewildered. "How many places did you go?"

"One."

"There are more, aren't there?"

She nodded.

"Sweetheart, it's not a big deal that you didn't find a dress on the first day you went shopping for one."

He continued to attempt to soothe her, and Sansa half-listened. It wasn't as though she could tell him the truth, that she felt as though a tremendous Robb-sized weight was weighing on her, that all those years of denial and avoidance had caught up with her, and now that she and Willas had set a date, she felt as though she couldn't breathe.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," she said hastily, and shoved the crackers and cheese in her mouth.

"Why don't you take a bath and relax? I'll get dinner ready, okay?"

She nodded dumbly and got up.

"Why don't you take the crackers and cheese with you," Willas said, handing her the plate.

Sansa took it, grabbed her phone out of her purse, and then headed upstairs.

She went upstairs to their bedroom and placed the plate down on the bureau along with her phone. She then went into the bathroom to draw herself a bath. She felt numb now that she'd sobbed. Listless.

She just didn't know what to do anymore.

She went back to the bedroom and grabbed her phone, intent on texting Robb and telling him this was over. It had to stop. _Now._

But then she couldn't bring herself to do it, and so she shut her phone off completely and went to take her bath.

xxxxxxxx

Three days.

That was the last time he had heard from Sansa. She wasn't returning his calls, or his texts. It was as though she'd fallen off the planet. Had it not been for his Mother keeping him abreast of how she'd been really busy with work and planning the wedding, he would have thought she had.

He was in hell. Between hearing about her wedding plans from both his mother and Talisa, there was Talisa who seemed intent on recreating the romance of their engagement. She couldn't seem to keep her hands off him.

He hated it. Especially since all that romantic shit hadn't been real. He'd gone through the motions, that was all. He'd had an idea of how a besotted fiancé was supposed to act, and he'd done what he thought he was supposed to do.

Finally, one afternoon at work, he snapped. After a class in which he thought he did in fact make a student piddle on the rug, he canceled his next class, and went in search of Sansa.

She couldn't avoid him forever, dammit.

He drove to her house first. She wasn't there. Then he drove to their mother's. She wasn't there either. He went back to her house, intent on waiting for her.

She pulled in right behind him. He could see her in his rear view mirror, just sitting there staring at his truck as though she couldn't believe he was there. Her hands were on the steering wheel still and he wondered if she'd even shut the car off yet. Would she drive off to avoid him?

Finally, she got out and he followed suit.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not having moved from her car door. He stayed where he was, by his own car door, afraid to scare her off. "We need to talk, Sansa," he said.

"I don't want to."

He sighed and shoved his hands in the pockets of his dress pants. "Well, that's just too fucking bad, isn't it?"

"I don't have to do what I don't want to do."

"Why don't you want to talk to me?" he asked.

"Because I'm marrying Willas."

Robb ignored the jolt of pain that statement caused, and he nodded to the house instead. "Maybe we should take this inside."

"I think you should leave."

"No, I'm not gonna do that, Sansa. This avoiding me? It can't go on."

She pursed her lips together and seemed to be mulling it over in her head. She finally nodded and looked at him. "You're not allowed to touch me."

He nodded in agreement, though he wasn't sure that was something he could adhere to. His hands were already itching to touch her. He couldn't be close to Sansa and not want to touch her. But if this made her feel somehow safer…he would agree.

She led the way inside, and he made sure to keep his distance. When he got too close, she visibly tensed. She reminded him of a rubber band about to snap. He understood that feeling all too well. He felt the exact same way.

Once inside, Sansa moved to the far side of the kitchen and leaned against the sink, her hands curled upon the edge of it, looking as though she was prepared to hurl herself forward if need be. It was understood that Robb was to stay where he was near the door - apparently if he needed to leave in a rush or, as felt more accurate, was ordered out.

"You don't want to talk to me and you don't want me to touch you," he said, running a hand through his curls. "How's that going to work going forward? Am I to stay away from you every time we see one another? You don't think Mom or anyone else will catch on?"

"We have to get past it—"

"Still singing the same song then?" He moved forward and she tensed. He stopped and threw up his arms. "How do you propose we do that then, huh? Because I tried, remember? I fucking moved away. I got married for fuck's sake, and that didn't change anything. I tried to just 'get past it', Sansa, and I couldn't. Do you have any ideas how to do it now?"

Her face twisted as though in agony. "I don't know…I thought about moving, but I can't leave Mom—"

"You're not going anywhere, Sansa," he snapped.

"I just said that, but hey – you're not the boss of me."

"I'm going to divorce Talisa," he said quietly. "I can't do this anymore. She touches me and I have to stop myself from flinching."

"It's not like you hate her, Robb," Sansa said. "It can't be that bad."

"I don't hate her, but I'm not in love with her and I'm not even sure I like her…"

"You married her."

"Yeah, and I was stupid. She was the first one I took up with. I was so desperate to just move on and 'get past it' that I rushed everything. I loved her like a friend…and I thought I could learn to fall in love with her, but I didn't. Then she went and had that affair. I haven't been able to look at her the same since even if she was right – I did drive her to find love and solace with someone else because I am not capable of giving her what she needs. I don't have it in me to pretend to love and care for her the way I love and care for you." He shut his eyes as tears rushed to them. "It's killing me, Sansa," he said and looked at her again. "It's tearing me apart to pretend I'm in love with her when I'm not. Sometimes I think I hate her and it's not even her fault. It's mine. If you marry Willas, you're going to do the same to him."

"You don't know that."

"You didn't even have sex with him when you set a date, Sansa."

"You had sex with Talisa," she pointed out.

"And I felt dirty after."

Her face crumpled as though she was ready to cry. "Even if I don't marry him, Robb, there is no scenario in which this works."

He moved closer to her, and when she didn't move away or tense, he moved until he was standing in front of her. "We have to think outside the box a little, that's all. The alternative is… I can't do the alternative anymore, Sansa. Can you?"

She looked up at him helplessly. "But he loves me, Robb. How can I hurt him? And she loves you! How can you do this to her?"

"I've already done it," he murmured and tentatively reached out and ran the tips of his fingers along the side of her face. She flinched away and he leaned in, desperate for a connection. "Sansa, please…" He leaned in, pressing his nose into her temple. "P _lease_."

Her jaw clenched. Her breathing grew shallow – she was practically panting for it. For him. Robb took a chance and slid a hand over her waist. "Sansa, I love you, sweet girl. I love you…"

She turned her face to his and that was it. Their lips collided and it was as though they thought to swallow the other whole. Robb yanked her against him, needing to feel every inch of her against every inch of him. She moaned and Robb cradled her face in his hands as he kissed her. He moved them so she was up against the table in the center of the room, and he lifted her up onto it.

"I need you," he gasped. "I need you so badly."

She went to the buckle on his dress pants. "Yes," she said halfway between a moan and a whine. "Yes, me too."

The sound of a car door slamming shut startled them apart. Sansa's eyes went wide as she looked up at Robb, and then jumped down off the table and rushed to the window. "Mom! It's Mom!"

With a curse, Robb hastily buckled his belt. "I need the bathroom," he said and rushed from the room while Sansa combed her fingers through her hair and adjusted her clothes. At least she didn't have the physical evidence of how turned on she'd been poking at the front of her pants as he did.

Once in the bathroom, Robb leaned against the door and shut his eyes, willing his erection down. "Fuck," he muttered.

When his erection finally went down, he forced himself to meander down the hall to the kitchen. Sansa was putting a tea cup in the microwave, and Catelyn was at the table. She beamed at Robb when she saw him. "I was just telling Sansa that I am so glad to see you two spending time together," she said.

Robb couldn't help it. He laughed and sat down at the table with his mother. "How ya doin', Mom?"

"I'm well, son. Do you have time for tea with Sansa and me?"

Robb looked at Sansa over his mother's shoulder, and when Sansa nodded, Robb smiled, a real smile. Sansa wanted him to stay. "Yeah, I can do that."


	15. Chapter 15

As much as Robb loved his mother, and cherished the fact that for right now she was healthy, he also really wanted her to hurry up and drink her tea so that he and Sansa could be alone.

But, then, Willas came home and that put an end to all his hopes and dreams for the afternoon. He hugged her on his way out the door with Catelyn following behind him. "I'll call you tomorrow," he told her.

"Okay!" she said in that fake bright voice she used when she was unhappy by something, but trying to act as if everything was just fine. Robb just hoped it was because she was just as disappointed that their time together had been cut short as he was.

He went home and suffered through dinner with Talisa, pretending as always to put effort into their relationship when really he was just going through the motions. He had to divorce her, that much he knew. It was just...God. What a grade-A fucking asshole he was. She has an affair because of his inability to be a husband that showed her any kind of affection, and then he makes her move across country with him so he could be with his family...

She was going to hate him. She was going to be so incredibly hurt.

His father hadn't raised him to be that guy, to be that asshole that crushed his wife and ended a marriage. However, his father had also not raised him to fall in love with his sister, but that had still happened. It bothered him, thinking he was "that guy". He was a Stark and he'd been raised to be a good man. Right now, he didn't feel like a good man. He'd cheated on Talisa with Sansa more than once now and he was about to do it again as soon as he and Sansa could make the time.

Not to mention, he was willfully trying to break Sansa up with Willas. Yet, he knew Sansa was not in love with Willas, not the way she wanted to be. Not the way she loved him. So, there was that at least.

In the grand scheme of things was he being a selfish prick, or was he helping to set two people free to find others who could love them the way they deserved to be loved. Talisa deserved to have a husband love her the the way he loved Sansa. And Willas deserved to have a wife love him the way Sansa loved Robb. To be married to them and not be able to give them what they needed and wanted...wasn't that the bigger injustice?

This is what he tried to rationalize to himself in his mind while he struggled with the guilt. He couldn't even think about the fact that it was his sister that this was happening with. That the one woman in all the world he could not live without was the one woman he should never ever have looked at twice.

And now he was thinking yet again of how to make this all work. That had been the thing to end he and Sansa to begin with. The fact that there were no options for them. Come clean? Jesus, what would the family say? Or do? Catelyn would have another heart attack. Did he stay married to Talisa, and did Sansa get married to Willas and they had an affair? God, no. That would kill him, and judging by how tightly wound Sansa had been lately, she wouldn't survive it either. So then, he divorced Talisa, she broke off the engagement to Willas and they remained single...? That could work. But for how long until Catelyn was bringing women around for him and men around for Sansa? And wouldn't they eventually get caught? Didn't everyone in the history of having affairs eventually get fucking caught?

He couldn't think about this now. He'd drive himself nuts. He was already there from just being away from Sansa for as long as he had been. If he started going down the path of how they could make this work, he'd have a whole other set of worries to contend with. All that could be left for now. All he wanted to focus on now was Sansa. Being with her. Holding her. Making love to her. The rest could wait.

Already though, there was that creeping fear that she would take it all back and that she had given into him in a moment of passion and not because she really wanted to see this through.

When he begged off going to bed with Talisa, claiming he had some papers to grade, he holed himself up in his study and sent Sansa a text: _Hey_.

Just when he thought she'd already gone to bed or was avoiding him again, his phone dinged: _Hey_.

He typed furiously: _Please tell me you don't regret what happened this afternoon. Please tell me we can talk about this, work it out._

What he got back from her he didn't expect.

 _I miss you so much, Robb. I feel like I'm dying without you. I don't know if what we're doing is the right thing. I don't know what the right thing is anymore. I just know that I can't stand this emptiness inside me anymore._

He was going to cry. Christ, he couldn't believe it. _I miss you too, Sansa. More than you could ever know. I am dying without you…I've been in agony. When can I see you? Please say tomorrow._

He wracked his brain, thinking of when he had free time tomorrow in between classes. Shit, he'd cancel some if he had to –

 _Are you free around 2? I'll be home then. Willas won't be home until late tomorrow._

He breathed a sigh of relief. _I'll see you at 2._

xxxxxxxxxxx

The wait was torturous. Robb couldn't stop looking at the clock. His classes dragged. He couldn't focus. A watched pot never boiled, and a watched clock never moved, yet he couldn't stop himself. When he thought a half an hour had surely passed, it was only ten minutes. He was ready to throw his arms up and say "Fuck it, I'm done, I've gotta go."

When it was finally time to go, Robb practically ran out of his class. Then, of course, he was stopped by students which took up even more time and it wasn't as though he could blow them off. Even if he desperately wanted to. When he was finally on his way to truck, he was waylaid by a co-worker.

It was almost 2:30 by the time he got in his truck. He tried calling Sansa, but there was no answer. He texted her quickly using voice to text, but his message came out jumbled.

He hit every red light.

He cursed a blue streak in his car, hollering at cars, and honking his horn.

When he got to her house, he hurried out and to the door and when he burst inside, not even bothering to knock, she was there, in the kitchen, looking startled and drying her hands on a dish towel.

"I got your message," she said. "What does 'I am Fenway' mean?"

"It meant I was on my way," he said as he stalked over to her and her into his arms. He kissed her so hard, she bent back over his arm. Her hands went to his face and she cradled it, laughing nervously.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Mmm-hmm," Robb hummed in agreement as he nuzzled at her neck. He lifted his head and grinned at her. She smiled and twined her arms around his neck. "Can I guess for what?" she asked playfully.

Without a word of warning, he lifted her up, spun her around, and placed her on the kitchen table. He leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers. He shut his eyes and just breathed her in.

"I love you, Sansa," he said.

"I love you too, Robb."

"I don't want to think about what's next. I don't want to think about what we're going to do. We'll figure it out, okay? I just want to be with you."

She nodded. "Agreed." She kissed him, and Robb lost himself in her kiss. He moaned when he felt her hands at his belt buckle. He kept on kissing her while she undid it.

"Come with me," he said and scooped her up in his arms before she could undo his pants.

He carried her into the living room and set her down on her feet. He went to the couch and took off the afghan draped over it and spread it on the floor. He then got down on his knees atop the afghan and looked up at her. "Join me, sweet girl?"

She nodded, but before she did, she lifted her summer dress up and off. Clad now only in panties and a bra, she stepped toward Robb who pressed his face into her belly and peppered it with kisses.

"So beautiful," he whispered. "You're so fucking beautiful, Sansa."

"Robb, I want to see you," she whispered. "Please…"

He got to his feet and toed off his dress shoes, his socks, and then took off his belt and shucked off his pants and boxers. When he started to unbutton his dress shirt, Sansa went to her knees before him and took his already hard cock in her mouth.

Robb's hands stilled over the buttons of his dress shirt. "Oh, fuck Sansa…" His hands went to her hair and he threaded his fingers through the thick silky mass.

She'd gotten better at giving head, and Robb didn't want to think about how. When she cupped his balls in her hands, he thought he was going to cum right then and there. He didn't want that, so he pushed her gently away, groaning when she swiped at her now pink swollen lips.

"I want inside you," he told her. "I don't want to cum in your mouth." He smirked. "Not this time anyway."

She smiled and tugged on the hem of his shirt. He finished undoing it and let it fly somewhere near her dress. Meanwhile, she rid herself of her bra and panties and lay back on the afghan. When she opened her arms to him, he practically dove on top of her. Her legs lifted and went to cradle his hips while he positioned himself at her opening. He reached down in between them and used the tip of his cock to simultaneously tease her and check her readiness.

She was so fucking wet already.

"I've been wet all day," she admitted shyly. "I think since last night actually."

Robb groaned. "I'm going to have to quit my job at this point. It's really hindering my ability to get here and make love to you."

She giggled softly and rubbed herself against him. Her nipples were hard and he grunted at the feel of them rubbing against his chest.

"Make love to me, Robb," she murmured in his ear just before taking the lobe in her teeth and tugging lightly.

Robb pushed against her hole slowly. The last time they'd made love it had been fast. Desperate. This time, he wanted to savor her. "How long do we have?" he asked.

"A few hours."

He smiled and stilled inside her. "Good." And then he snapped his hips forward, burying himself to the hilt.

Sansa cried out, and Robb moaned. "God, Sansa, you're so tight and wet and hot…"

"Fuck me, Robb," she panted.

He did. But slowly. He wanted to reacquaint himself with her body, and he did. He slid his hands over every part of her skin that he could reach. He kissed her, caressed her, and stroked her. There wasn't a moment when his hands weren't on her. And Sansa took his lead, running her fingers through his chest hair, scraping her nails lightly across his nipples and abs. His stomach clenched and he groaned as his cock jumped inside her. She smiled like the minx she was until he pulled out of her and put his mouth on her cunt.

He ate her until she climaxed and then he plunged back inside her, his dick even wetter now from her juices.

When she put her hands on his ass and pushed him into her, he knew that meant "Fuck me hard now." So he did. Short strokes, then long, then short, and then she came, her walls pulsing around his cock and milking his seed from him.

Coming inside her, Robb only knew ecstasy and peace. Utter euphoria. After, he lay against her, spent and still somehow wanting more even though his body was nowhere near ready. When he made to move off her, she held him fast and tight, and so he stayed.

They lay there together, their bodies slick with sweat and humming with pleasure, just holding each other, and basking in being together at long last again.


	16. Chapter 16

Robb and Sansa were dressed – just in case someone stopped by – and sitting on the couch in her living room. Sansa was snuggled up against Robb's side her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. Robb had his arm around her and was resting his cheek against the top of her head. Every once in a while he'd bend his head and kiss the top of hers.

"I never should have left," Robb murmured after a long while. "I should have stayed and just figured it out."

"We still don't have it figured out," Sansa pointed out.

"But we'll get there."

"You sound so sure."

"It's like Pandora's Box, ya know? All that shit flies out, but so does hope. I need to hold onto that."

She didn't point out that the shit could get really bad to the point that there where hope wouldn't even be enough to sustain them, but she didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Stop thinking," Robb said and squeezed her into him.

"I can't help it," she murmured. She tilted her head back to look up at him. "Robb, can you tell me what happened while you were away?"

He frowned. "What's to tell? I left, I tried to move on, and it didn't work."

"You married her though. There had to be something about Talisa you liked. Did you love her maybe a little bit?"

He sighed. "In the beginning I think I convinced myself that I did." He scrubbed a hand down his face. "I found her pretty and smart and witty. We got on well, and I did have fun with her when we spent time together."

"And the…the sex?"

Robb sat up, causing Sansa to have to sit up as well. "Sansa."

"I just want to know. I want to understand. We didn't speak during that time so I just want to get a clearer picture of your life."

He rubbed his forehead. "The sex was. . . it was fine. It wasn't…it wasn't like it is with you."

"Robb, if the sex was phenomenal with her you can say it. It's okay. I don't like it – I mean, I hate it – but you _are_ married to her."

"It was…different. There were times when it was phenomenal, but it wasn't all the time. There was always that element of something missing." He looked at her. She stared back. "You, Sansa, you were missing."

She laughed. "Yeah, I worked that out, thanks."

"I don't want to know about the sex with you and Willas, okay? It's hard enough for me not to punch him in the throat every time I see him."

Sansa pushed him back onto the couch. "Calm down," she said lightly.

"What makes it worse is how fucking nice he is," Robb said.

She laughed a little, and then her laughter and smile died. "I know. He is nice. And thoughtful and sweet. He is so patient with me—"

"Sansa, please stop," Robb pleaded.

She looked at him. "Talisa has been very kind to me so it's not like it's any easier for me. She got to have you. She got to _marry_ you, Robb."

He looked pained. "I made her miserable. I've been a shit husband. By the time I realized I didn't want to be married because I could not love her the way I loved you, it was too late. I just…shut down. I was depressed. Every day I thought: this is my life? How can this be my life? I wanted to reach out to you, but I didn't know if you would be receptive. And I was afraid that if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from trying to get back to you. I provided for her the way I thought I was supposed to, but I fell short when it came to giving her affection. I was just…dried up. It was in me, but I couldn't fake it with her so I didn't. Then she had the affair."

"How did you find out about it?" Sansa asked softly.

"She told me. She felt guilty enough to put a stop to it, and to tell me what she'd done. She wanted us to go through therapy because she didn't want to divorce without trying to work on it. Jesus, San, I haven't even been married for a full five years and my wife had an affair on me already, and we were in therapy before moving back home. How fucked up is that?"

"You're asking me that? I'm in love with you, _my brother_ , remember?"

He reached out and pulled her back into his side. He kissed her forehead lingeringly. "Tell me about you and Willas."

"I thought you didn't want to know?" she teased.

"Leave out the sex stuff."

She laughed. "My story is not like yours. It took me a long time to date. I just couldn't do it. I compared every guy to you and they all fell short. I took a break for a while, and then I ended up meeting Willas. He was…well," she laughed, "he was Willas. I just…gave in. He was someone I thought I could settle with."

"Settle, yeah, that's key word there."

"I've kept myself at a distance from him," she said, sounding regretful. "We suffer from the same thing, you and I. Not being able to give affection or the proper attention to the two people we're supposed to be giving affection and attention to. You said you felt like you'd been dreaming and you've now woken up. That's how I feel. I've just woken up finally."

Robb heaved her up onto his lap and gazed up her, cradling her face in his hands. "We're going to figure this out, Sansa, because we have to. This half-life is no life at all. Promise me we'll try."

She nodded. "We'll try."

He drew her face down to his and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

They kissed, and it grew more and more passionate as it continued on.

"I want you again," he whispered. "God, Sansa, what you do to me…"

"We already dressed," she told him with a smirk.

"I can't care. Just get these off," he said roughly as he reached under her dress and began pulling at her panties. "Quick."

She laughed, a light airy laugh of joy, and rolled off him to take her panties off. Robb used the opportunity to undo his pants and shove them along with his boxers down.

Robb gestured to his cock, standing at attention. "All aboard."

Sansa giggled and got back on his lap. She slid her wet pussy along his cock, letting him feel how wet she was.

Robb gripped her hips hard. "Sansa, fuck, please…"

Slowly, she sank down on him.

She rode him slowly, their eyes locked on one another as she moved over him.

"You fit me like glove," he whispered. "My cock was made for your pussy."

She moaned and started to move faster and harder.

"Does my sweet girl like dirty talk?" he asked and started to move her over him. "You like my cock deep inside you, Sansa? Do you want my cum dripping out of you all night?"

She nodded, panting. "Yes…yes."

"Fuck me harder…that's it…that's my dirty girl…fuck!"

Robb put his thumb over her clit and rubbed. "Come for me, Sansa. Come all over my dick, come on…'

She cried out as she came, her eyes fluttering shut as her legs shook from the force of her orgasm.

Robb pushed up, driving his cock deeper inside her, and came.

Sansa collapsed against him and Robb wrapped her up close in his arms, murmuring to her how he loved her, and would always love her.

All too soon, it was time for Robb to leave. At the door, they held onto each other, neither one wanting to let go.

"Tomorrow," Robb rasped as he cradled her tight in his arms. "We'll get together in the evening. Tell Willas you're hanging out with your brother and we'll go somewhere we can be alone."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Don't sleep with him," he begged on a whisper. "Okay?"

"What about you and Talisa?"

"I'm going to try my best. I don't want to, love. Do you believe me?"

"Of course," she whispered.

Their kisses were desperate and needy, but Sansa pushed him out the door before it escalated again. She needed to shower, change, and present herself as the loving fiancé she wasn't.


	17. Chapter 17

_Robb: What time are you free? I get out of work at 5. I thought we could go to our spot and have a picnic._

Sansa smiled at her phone, the sort of dreamy smile she was sure she'd seen teenagers make when their boyfriends texted or called. Not that she cared. She was alone, working on a project for a client, and there was no one to question her.

 _Sansa: I already mentioned to Willas last night that we might hang out tonight, so I am free whenever._

 _Robb: Do I dare pick you up like it's a real date?_

 _Sansa: LOL. You could!_

 _Robb: Then that's what I'm doing. Except no dressing up. Although, I think you should wear a skirt or one of those summer dresses..._

 _Sansa: Robb Stark, are you saying what I think you're saying?_

 _Robb: That I want easy access? Yes, I am!_

 _Sansa: I better not end up with dirt and grass in places where dirt and grass should never be._

 _Robb: I promise I won't let that happen._

 _Sansa: Hmm-mmm_

 _Robb: I'll bring 2 blankets._

 _Sansa: Will one of them be your Superman blanket?_

 _Robb: You're a brat._

 _Sansa: :)_

 _Robb: LOL. Be ready at 5._

 _Sansa: Yes, dear._

Sansa couldn't wait to see him. She felt as though she might jump right out of her skin until then. She hadn't felt this excited for something since she was a kid determined to wait up for Santa Claus.

When Willas came home, hungry and tired and a little cranky from a rough day, Sansa felt guilt overtake her. Here was the man that she had been planning on marrying who had just had a rough day, and she was excited to see her lover.

"Do you want me to stay home?" she asked Willas when he went to the fridge to get a beer.

"You have plans with your brother, right?" he asked.

She nodded. "He'll be here in a few, but if you want me to stay home I will." It's the least I can do for what I've been doing, and what I am planning to do.

"No, no. Go hang out with Robb. I'm just gonna take a shower and find a game to watch."

Sansa bit her lip and nodded, feeling now even guiltier. She was abandoning him to be with Robb. He'd had a bad day while she'd been thinking about another man. And he had no idea. How would he? Robb was her brother, to the outside world they were just a couple siblings hanging out together.

A horn honked and Sansa peered out the kitchen door and saw Robb's truck sitting there. She bit her lip and turned back to Willas. "Are you sure?"

Willas grinned and came over to her. He kissed her sweetly and then nodded. "I'm sure. Go spend time with your brother. Tell him I said hi."

Sansa nodded. "Ok. I'll see you later."

"Have fun, and don't worry about me, okay?"

She smiled. "Okay."

And even though she still felt guilty, she grabbed her cardigan off the kitchen chair she'd draped it over earlier, and headed out of the house.

When she caught sight of Robb beaming at her in his truck with his sunglasses on, her heart skipped a beat and though her guilt didn't go away, it lessened. She loved Robb. It was as simple and as difficult as that.

She climbed inside and looked over at him with a grin. "Hey."

"Willas is home?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Dammit. You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now."

"Well, Willas just did, so..." Why did she say that? To remind him? Herself? She was here wasn't she, in his truck ready to go off? Why did she have to tell him that?

His jaw clenched, and he put his truck in reverse and backed out of her driveway.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know why I said that. I just - Willas had a bad day and I feel guilty for leaving him…"

"You'd rather stay home with him than spend time with me?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all," she said defensively.

"Then what are you saying exactly?"

"Robb, I know you're not stupid. So don't act like it."

"Do you want me to turn around and take you back home so you can make Willas feel all better?" he snapped. "So you can make yourself feel better for not loving him?"

"Don't be a dick."

Silence fell and they didn't speak for the rest of the ride to the park.

Their spot, which was what they were there for, was really a trail they had discovered a bit off the beaten path at the State Park. This path circled out closer to the pond, and there was a rock that fit two comfortably and overlooked the water.

It was dinnertime, or at least close to dinnertime for most people, so there were hardly any cars about. As soon as Robb pulled into a spot well away from everyone else and cut the engine, he sat there, one elbow up on his door and he scratched at his forehead. "This is hard," he finally said.

"Did you think it was going to be otherwise?" she asked quietly.

"No," he said, just as quietly. "Maybe. It was supposed to be better than nothing at all."

"It is," Sansa said as she reached out and gently played with the curls at the back of his head.

Robb moaned and then leaned over the consul and dragged her closer to him. The consul was in the way though still, and he growled in frustration. "Backseat," he said and all but jumped out of the truck to get into the backseat.

Sansa blushed, and didn't know why – it wasn't as though she and Robb hadn't just done it twice the day before and who knew how many times when they were teenagers, but she still managed to get all tingly and nervous around him as though he was a real boy and not her brother. She had never got this way over Willas.

Assessing the situation, Sansa figured she didn't have to get out of the truck. She could just climb over the seat. Robb was in the back, ready to catch her. And catch her he did, right into his arms.

Sansa clung to him, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close while he kissed her as though he was facing a death sentence tomorrow. When Robb broke the kiss, he kept his eyes shut and wore a look on his face as though he was savoring it. He pressed his forehead against hers and sighed, his breath a puff of air across her cheek. "This is all I wanted all day, Sansa." He opened his eyes and looked at her, one hand slipping through her hair. "To just be alone with you. To hold you in my arms and be able to kiss you and touch you."

"Me too," she said softly.

"Please don't tell me when he kisses you," he said. "I don't want to know."

She nodded. "I won't."

"I can't stand it," he said, his tone thick with frustration. "I can't stand that he gets to touch you."

"Talisa gets to touch you," she countered.

He snorted. "Barely." He slid a hand down her thigh. "You wore a dress…"

"You told me to."

He laughed. "Since when do you listen to anything I say?"

She smirked. "Good point." And then she moaned when he slipped his fingers inside her panties and teased her pussy. "You're wet," he whispered. "Good thing because I'm fucking hard for you right now."

"Then what are you waiting for?" she asked breathlessly.

"Undo my jeans," he ordered.

She arched a brow at him, but did as she was told. He lifted up off the seat to push his jeans and then his boxers down, and then pulled her panties to the side and pushed her down on his length.

"God, fuck, Sansa," he groaned. "You're so fucking tight, sweetheart."

Sansa wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love you," she said as she began to bounce on his cock.

He looked so pleased that she said it first, that she made a mental note to tell him more often.

Their coupling was fast; their need too great to take it slow. Robb's fingers dug into her hips, holding her in place as he came deep inside her. Then he gathered her up in his arms and kissed her as though he had all the time in the world.

Now, suddenly nervous about being discovered, Sansa slipped off of him and they both shared a groan. "Clean up, lover," she told him as she climbed back over the seat to get some tissues from her purse and clean up the cum that was leaking out of her. "I'm hungry."

A few minutes later, they emerged from the truck, slightly disheveled and wearing contented grins on their faces as they strolled toward the trail. Robb held the picnic basket he'd packed in one hand, and Sansa held the plain blue blankets in the other.

Once they were on the trail, Robb reached out and took her hand and Sansa smiled up at him and squeezed it. "Love you," she said with a little swish of her hips.

"Love you more," he said and drew her into his side to kiss her temple.

Willas was temporarily forgotten.


End file.
